Before the Dawn
by Evil-Snow-Bear
Summary: Squall likes his solitude, especially from the other kids at the orphanage but when he gets sick, he finds himself stuck with a very annoying blond, how will he survive? chapter 19 now up!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER; You seriously think that I own Seifer or Squall? *gets poked* Ow okay, okay. I don't own Final Fantasy 8. I only own a copy of the game.

Warnings; none really except for some slight Quisty bashing, she's a good character but she gets on my nerves sometimes with her bossyness. Seifer is probably slight OOC.

A/N; Now be warned peeps, this is probably going to be weird, but I'm a weird writer so live with it. I couldn't help but write a orphanage fic, and this is SeiferxSquall but that will come in later chapters. This story will go through the orphanage stage of everyone leaving then probably skip to when Squall is in Garden, I will warn when Timeskips happen. I have just recently started playing FF8 again and I was ashamed that I ever stopped playing it. Though I have just realize how much a ditz Zell is ¬.¬ Seriously. Rinoa I just want to shoot, it would be cool if Angelo was a party character instead of Rinoa's limit thing. Okay I'm rambling, please R&R and please tell me if I have missed anything out, I think Edea has Amber eyes, not sure...Anyway.

ENJOYIES!

"Hey, Seifer. Have you seen Squall?" an nine year old Quistis asked the blond, even at this age, she spoke with authority in her tone. Her hair was clipped back neatly, a few loose strands of strawberry blond hair framing her face. Seifer turned and shrugged, seeming not to care if Pretty Boy was missing. He had lived at the Orphanage long enough that he knew when Squall was hiding from everyone and wanted to be alone.

"Nope, see ya." Seifer made a quick escape, leaving a grumbling Quistis behind. Seifer liked Quisty but sometimes she was so bossy, always ordering him and Squall around as if she was their mother. She never seemed to leave Squall be, she would stand there for hours telling him to open up, be more friendly, smile more. Everything from Quistis was more, more, _more._ And for that reason Seifer liked to disobey her rules, he liked picking on Irvine, the kid practically asked for it, especially when he thought it was funny to joke about Squall's hair.

It was a well known rule that only he was allowed to tease Squall.

Of course, he also liked teasing Zell, the blond boy was easy to rile and irritate. Just call him a chicken and you had him eating out of the palm of your hand. Selphie was just a no-no, the girl was hard to get angry but the one time he succeeded was also the last time he did, he nearly lost his life. The small girl had let out a battle cry and jumped him, shaking and pulling him like he was some sort of rag doll. When Matron had finally came to his rescue, he was sure he had little ducks spinning round his head and he had been thoroughly confused. Though it had been worth it when he spotted Squall hiding in a corner, giggling behind his hand. It was another rule that only he was allowed to make Squall smile and laugh.

Speaking of said boy.

Seifer entered his room only to stop and blink a few times, Squall was curled up on his bed, wearing one of his jumpers which looked massive on Squall's small frame. Seifer let out a smirk, well it looked more like smile. It was hard to smirk when you were only nine years old.  
"Clever." Seifer muttered, it was a third rule that no one, not even Matron was allowed in his room, and the other kids seemed to stay away. A perfect place to get away from everyone. Strolling over to his bed, he flopped down, causing Squall to let out a discontented whine and curl up further, shivering. Seifer frowned, Squall was never really cold, hell, he could sit on the shore line, watching the waves for hours in the middle of winter and never shiver once. So something had to be wrong if Squall was shivering. Showing an uncharacteristic show of concern, he gently shook Squall, his frown deepening when the boy turned over and snuggled against him, mumbling 'warm' under his breath.

Seifer, on a whim, placed his hand on Squall's forehead, he had seen Matron do it when Selphie was feeling unwell. His eyebrows rose in alarm when he had touched the brunette skin. Squall was hot! Really hot! Seifer dove from the bed, ignoring Squall's childish moan. Seifer began to panic, he knew enough to know that Squall was ill but the boy would hate him if he told everyone. Squall rarely trusted anyone and Seifer felt like it was an honour that Squall, despite all the teasing, trusted him enough to creep into his room, or sit near him.

Seifer guessed that it was because the others didn't leave well enough alone, all of them wanting to be Squall's friend and were constantly hounding him. Seifer paced for about a minute before an idea came to him, He would go and get Matron, but discreetly and when she confirmed that Squall was sick, he would ask if he could look after him. Nodding to himself, he went over to Squall, nudging him. Worrying even more when glazed stormy blue eyes peeked up at him.

"Hey, uh, I'm gonna go and get Matron and then I'll be right back okay?" Squall nodded and closed his eyes. Trusting Seifer enough to look after him. After Sis left, Seifer had become his knew bodyguard. Seifer bolted from the room, looking out for Matron, and after making some random kid cry, he finally found her in the backyard, hanging some washing out. He quickly started tugging on her dress. Matron let out a hum and looked down at him, a dark brow raising when she saw the barely concealed panic on his face.

"Seifer?"

"Matron!" Seifer glanced round quickly, lowering his voice. "Matron, Squall's sick."

Matron's amber eyes widened in shock and she quickly dropped the clean washing back into the basket and asked Seifer to take her to him. Nodding, Seifer narrowed his eyes whenever someone opened their mouths to ask what was going on. He wanted to keep Squall's trust, thank you. The boy was the only one who could rival him and Seifer always did like a challenge. Never mind the promise to become Gunblade specialists together. Matron followed quietly, watching Seifer's every move, she wasn't stupid, she always knew where Squall was and most of the time, he was with Seifer. The blond boy might've been a bully but when it came to the brunette, he would do anything. Sure they clashed but it was what made them so close, though she couldn't help but worry about how possessive Seifer was becoming over Squall, the fact that he threatened Irvine made it worse.

Seeing Seifer's bedroom door, she pushed her worries to the back of her mind. Squall was her priority right now and if Seifer got anymore fidgety, he might just start chewing his nails and that was not allowed in her house. Walking inside the room, she couldn't help internally squeal at how cute Squall looked in Seifer's jumper, the fact that it almost looked natural didn't escape her. Checking his temperature, she ordered Seifer to go and get a bowl of cool water and a cloth. The blond boy nodded and ran off.

"M-matron? Where's Seify?" Smiling down at Squall, she quickly hushed him, tucking him into Seifer's bed and stroked a few damp locks from his face.

"He has just gone off to get some water, he'll be back soon." Squall didn't look convinced but in his feverish state, he didn't have the energy to get up and look for the blond. Matron carried on stroking his hair, trying to get Squall to relax. It wouldn't do him any good if he got all het up. A few minutes later, shouting could be heard and Matron winced, she adored all her children but seriously, Quistis needed to lay off on the bossyness, Seifer had no love for rules especially not hers. Seifer came through the door, a bowl in his hand and a small cloth draped on his arm.

"Answer the question Seifer, why- Oh my, Squall!" Quistis gasped, quickly forgetting Seifer and headed straight for the poorly brunette. Matron watched as Quistis began throwing orders around, something about getting Squall away from Seifer, because it was obvious that it was his fault that Squall was sick. Matron glowered at the strawberry blond, seeing Seifer hang his head. Now that was uncalled for.

"Quistis! Squall will be staying right here, and apologise to Seifer, now."

"Wha? Why?"

"It was Seifer who alerted me of Squall being sick, he has done nothing wrong."Matron gave her a pointed look and Quistis relented, pouting childishly, she turned towards Seifer and apologised before stalking from the room. She hated it when she was proved wrong. Matron huffed and returned back to Squall's side, calling for Seifer to come closer with the bowl.

Seifer placed the bowl on the bed side table and made to leave, feeling highly uncomfortable. He would just sleep in Squall's room until he was better, he never did like it when people put him down.

"...Seify?" The blond boy stopped, his whole body freezing at the soft voice that belonged to Squall. Matron hid a smile, knowing that Seifer wouldn't leave knowing that Squall needed him. She knew a lot of things, especially about Seifer and Squall. They argued like a married couple, fought almost constantly, but if Squall needed anything right now, it was Seifer. The annoying blond gave him a peace of mind, knowing that the few times they were not actually fighting, he could just be himself and brood. She had noticed on a few occasions that Seifer would glare at anyone who was coming over to talk to Squall, scaring them away.

Matron watched as Seifer quickly came back and jumped onto his bed, causing Squall to scowl but she could see the relief in his gaze. Matron stood, dusting off her dress.

"Now, Seifer. I'm going to leave Squall in your care, if you think he's getting too hot, you put a cold flannel on his forehead, cooling it often. He is NOT allowed out of bed, only if he needs the bathroom. I will bring his meals in and you will have to make sure he eats it all. Got it?" Seifer nodded his head, looking every bit like an eager dog while Squall brooded quietly. Matron left the room, trusting that Seifer would look after him properly. Seifer waited until the door was closed and he was sure Matron had gone down the hall before kicking his socks off and getting under the cover next to Squall who glowered at him as if he had just killed his cat.

Seifer took the wet cloth and put it on Squall's head, frowning when he took it off right after. Squall did 'not' pout and cross his arms over his chest in a broody way. Seifer raised a brow and took the cloth, he gave a pointed look.

"You know, I have got all day to fight with you."

Squall glared, he was not going to make this easy...

A/N; Aww cuties! XD Anyway, please R&R and I will send you metaphorical Seifer plushies!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer; I sadly do not own the awesome Squall or Seifer, or any other characters, they belong to Square-Enix, or formally known as Square-Soft.

Warnings; Ellone bashing. a cute Squall (because you got admit that even while he's swinging his Gunblade around he's damn adorable XD)

A/N; Hey dear readers! Another chapter! I have seriously missed playing FF8, but the good thing is that over the years of not playing it, I have somehow got better at the card game, which I was just terrible at before DX Man, Squall's SeeD outfit in Dissidia is awesome! The rocked up version of Don't Be Afraid is awesome too. Ah so much awesomeness. And Seifer...*drools*

"C'mon Squall, it's just chicken soup." Squall shook his head, his lips pressed tightly together in refusal. He was not going to eat chicken soup, he detested it. And being bed bound for two days with nothing but his annoying blond companion was testing his limits of sanity. He could only handle Seifer in small amounts and being stuck in the same room as the blond twentyfour/seven was just mad. Not even Matron who had the epitome of patience could handle Seifer for more than an hour without getting annoyed by his antics.

Seifer frowned, placing the bowl onto the little food trolly. How could he get Squall to eat the soup? Looking at the light broth he decided it looked perfectly appitising and smelt wonderful, so why wasn't Squall drooling over it like he was? Glancing at Squall when the boys tummy decided to voice that the food was fine and it wanted it now, Seifer realized that Squall was bored, and when he was bored he got unco-operative, meaning he wouldn't do anything until he got what he wanted. Seifer sighed in a dramatic way, flicking a loose lock of hair out of his eyes.

"Fine, if you eat the soup, I'll ask Matron if you can go for a walk to the beach. Okay?" Squall eyed him for a moment, frowning internally at how fast the blond had figured him out. Pouting, he nodded, he didn't like chicken soup but Matron said it would make him better quicker and Seifer did just promise to get him out of this Hyne for saken room. He ate the soup slowly, feeling Seifer watch every move like a hawk. When the last of the soup was gone, Seifer wheeled the food trolly out, closing the door behind him. Squall sighed and leaned back into the mass of pillows behind him, he wasn't sure where Seifer had gotten all the pillows from but he was glad, they were really comfy!

He had just about dozed off when the door burst open and Squall came face to face with the group with the exception of Quistis. Selphie squealed dived for the bed, Zell bounded over while stuffing a hot-dog into his mouth while Irvine eyed him curiously as if he expected torture marks and for him to be tied down on the bed. _I seriously need to stop watching Tv late at night._

"Squally, how have you been! Seifer has been a bore, he wouldn't let us see you." Selphie pouted. Zell nodded while mumbling something totally unintelligible. Irvine just carried on watching him. Squall shifted, suddenly wanting Seifer to come back and scare them off.

"Fine." He snapped out, getting even more defensive when Selphie started blurting something about Sis. Everyone knew that it was a sore spot and he wasn't quite over the face that his older sister had just disappeared and left him behind like she did. Irvine seemed to catch on and tried to change the subject but when Selphie put her mind to something, it was impossible to stop her.

Seifer smiled secretly to himself as he walked towards his room, Matron had given the go ahead for Squall to have a walk outside, he couldn't wait to see the brunette's face when he told him the good news. Though the smile disappeared when he heard voices in his room, he stood outside, listening to Selphie talk about the one person Squall wasn't ready to talk about.

"-And, and do you remember the time when Sis forgot to tell you we were all going out and...Hey, are you okay?" Seifer promptly burst into his room at the worry in the girl's voice, seeing Selphie poke an hunched over Squall, his messy hair covering his face. He glared darkly at the small girl, his voice coming out more dangerous then it ever had before.

"Get out..." Selphie squeaked, standing from the bed in a hurry and getting a her foot stuck in the sheets and falling to the floor in a heap. Zell sputtered, spitting out bits of hotdog roll all over his carpet. Irvine nodded, seeming to be the calmest out of the three. He helped Selphie up and grabbed Zell and quickly disappeared with the two, his gaze conveying that he had tried to stop Selphie from talking about Sis. Seifer slammed the door behind them, wincing when he saw Squall flinch. Calming down, he quickly made his way to Squall.

"Hey...Look at me." Squall shook his head, curling further up into a ball, his slim shoulders shaking slightly. Seifer knew that sign, it meant Squall was crying.

He hated it when Squall cried.

Working on impulses, he climbed onto the bed and pulled Squall into a tight embrace, feeling the other boy tense but luckily he didn't push him away. Seifer knew Squall didn't like to talk about Ellone, he never called her Sis once while she was here, no matter how many times she begged him and he never really liked her either. She was always stern to Squall, telling him off when he didn't even do anything remotely wrong. He had asked her once why she picked on him so much and she had just snorted and replied with _"He's special so I have to make sure he doesn't turn evil."_ Seifer never really understood what she meant, Squall would never turn evil, behind his anti-social personality, Squall was _pure_ through and through.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he suddenly remembered something important. Pulling the brunette away from his chest, he made Squall look at him. Seifer grinned. "Hey, guess what? We have permission to go to the beach!" Seifer relaxed internally, seeing Squall perk up at the mention of going outside. He let Squall crawl from the bed, feeling proud of himself that he got Squall to forget about Ellone. He watched with bemusement as Squall slipped into one of his baggy jumpers and slid on his black sneakers. Seifer was sure he would end up giving Squall his jumpers at this rate, the brunette wore them more then he did. Squall turned and eyed him impatiently, obviously wondering why Seifer hadn't moved yet. Seifer let out a snicker when Squall glared, his arms crossing over his chest. He decided it was a good idea to move before he got killed by the brunette. He was somewhat touched that Squall was reluctant to leave without him.

Standing from his bed, he slipped on his shoes and grabbed a thin jacket. He opened his door, feeling Squall grab onto the back of his jacket tightly. He walked down the hall, his back straight and what Matron called a swagger in his step. The other kids eyed Squall like he was a piece of meat and they were rabid animals. Seifer glared, seeming to scare them off easily. He was glad when he spotted the back door, he could smell the sea air and so could Squall, it seemed. The boy was in front, eager to get outside after being stuck in one room for two days. Getting outside, Seifer watched as Squall instantly relaxed, wandering off, kicking random stones. Seifer left him alone, walking a dozen steps behind just in case.

Squall didn't talk, he had no reason to. Seifer understood every mood of his from when he was annoyed, to happy or upset, to when he just wanted some quiet time to himself without the other kids hastling him. Lost in his thoughts of nothing particulary important he jumped when he heard Seifer shout loudly, blinking he turned round to see Seifer running towards him with something in his hand. Squall stared at the wind swept magazine in the blonds hand with a unintrested brow while Seifer grinned happily.

"Hey look at this, it has some awesome stuff in it!" Practically shoving the magazine into Squall's chest, the blond bounced on his heels while Squall flicked through the magazine. The brunette quickly realized that this was a weapon and accessory magazine and nothing seemed appealing until he spotted a pendant in the shape of a lions head. It instantly caught his intrest. It was simple but it radiated some sort of strength, even though it was just a picture. Reading the description, he was even more drawn to it, especially when the magazine talked about a matching ring. He was so into looking at the Griever necklace he jumped out of his skin when he heard Seifer whistle, right next to his ear.

"Wow, that's pretty cool." Squall looked up at Seifer who was peering over his shoulder, having gotten bored waiting for him to say something. Looking back at the picture, Squall nodded.

"Seifer, Squall! Dinner Time!" Both boys jumped at Matron shout and Seifer's stomach growled with agreement, Squall giggled while Seifer blushed faintly in embarrassment. He grabbed the blonds' hand, hiding the magazine up his sleeve, he dragged the other towards the house. He was hungry too, he wondered just how long they were outside but soon forgot when Seifer whooped, saying something about fajitas.

Dinner had been a tense affair, he was allowed to sit at the table now that he was feeling better, Seifer was on his left and Irvine oddly was on his right which the blond wasn't very happy about but once the chicken fajitas were put on the table, all thoughts of being hostile to each other was forgotton as food became number one priority. It was funny how Seifer growled when someone went for the same fajita as him.

Squall sat on Seifer's bed, looking over the same Griever pendant, there was just something about it..

"You really like it, huh?" Squall nodded, running a finger over the picture. He frowned when the magazine was taken off him and he was pushed to lie down. He swatted at Seifer's hand but knew it was futile, Seifer was bigger, older and stronger then him. The thought should frighten him considering he knew of Seifer's knew found fun of threatening people but he couldn't help but feel safe. Seifer often gave him a feeling of _home_, like he belonged at Seifer's side. Shaking his head, he decided he needed to stop discreetly reading Matron's sappy novels about romance and fate.

Seifer flopped down next Squall, frowning when he thought Squall couldn't see him. Matron had mentioned that now Squall was getting better, he could go back to his own room. He didn't like that idea, the other boys had been acting strange, stalking Squall listlessly. It was almost like they were drawn to the brunette. Seifer couldn't help but agree with Ellone..

Special indeed..

A/N Please Read and Review, tell me if there is anything I have forgotton or something. hmmm Chicken Fajitas...


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: *sits in corner* Moi do not own Final Fantasy 8 because if I did, it would be full of Yaoi and Shonen-ai and probably Yuri, (because if all the guys are screwing each other, who are the women going out with? Think on it) and Rinoa would be Ultimecia's Knight and not Seifer because he deserves to be a good guy! And just to repeat it. I-moi- DOES NOT OWN ANY OF THE RIGHTS TO FF8, IT BELONGS TO THE AWESOME SQUARE-ENIX! Got it? Good. *nods to self*

Warning; WARNING EXTREME FLUFF! Which is just soo cute!Squall is OOC but I can't help it, Squall is just cute and adorable from my point of view XD

A/N; Yo! Another chapter! I'm going to try and stick with this story the best I can before I get distracted by something else. I am trying to follow the guide for FF8 but you have to do so much leveling up it's almost a chore! First time I play a game, I don't mind Lvling up but after that I just get really, really bored. Square-Enix should make Yaoi filled RPG, now _that_ would be just the awesomest! Anyway! I'm rambling, I'll try to update often, though no promises, and the next chapter or the one after it there will be a time skip. Hmmmm maybe I should put that in the warning, *shrugs* so yeah, please R&R :)

ENJOYIES!

* * *

"Are you really, _really_ sure you don't want to come Squally?" Quistis asked while zipping up her coat. Squall nodded his head for what seemed like the millionth time, adding a chilly glare this time. They were all going into a small village for shopping, usually Matron had it all delivered but Squall knew they were going into town personally to get him some birthday presents. He wasn't stupid, though he might hit Seifer if the blond shifted uneasily one more time. He could tell that Seifer wanted to go but was unsure, not liking the idea of leaving Squall all on his own for a few hours. Seeming to give up Quistis slouched her shoulders, morosely shuffling off to join the others who were all getting a pep talk from Matron; the usual " Don't run off." and "Don't talk to strangers with candy." falling on deaf ears, they all knew the drill anyway.

Squall glowered harshly at Seifer who no doubtly had opened his mouth to carry on where Quistis left off. The blond boy snapped his mouth shut, frowning deeply, a look that Squall decided didn't suit the blond so he sighed and dragged the other away from the small group, barely noticing Matron watching them from the corner of her eye.

"Squall..."

"I'll be _fine_! I'll go and hide in our room until you come back, and I'll lock it behind me."Squall rolled his eyes as Seifer flushed pink, knowing he had been caught out. "Besides, Cid is here." Squall pointed out, watching as Seifer let out a defeated sigh. The brunette had a point. Nodding, Seifer desperately wanted to give Squall a hug but he knew the other would most likely murder him if he tried so he just awkwardly patted Squall on the shoulder, earning himself another eye-roll.

"Come along, Seifer." Matron called out, seeing how awkward the situation was becoming between the two boys. Squall almost giggled at how Seifer trudged slowly behind the rest, looking back at the Orphanage with what appeared to be longing. Eventually the small group disappeared from sight and Squall slowly shut the door, instantly feeling panic and restlessness seep into his body, it was the first time in a week that he was without the blond devil. Matron had mysteriously moved Squall's stuff into Seifer's room with no explination and he was now forever with Seifer, though he loathed to admit it, he found it funny when Seifer bullied on a snotty new kid, especially when they were picking on Selphie and her unusual hair style.

Squall supposed that he should feel guilty about standing back and letting Seifer tease the newest kids, he knew all too well what it felt like to know that you had no parents but...He couldn't, besides they took it too far while Seifer had a limit before he would just walk off, often leaving the other kids either in tears or in Zell's case, fuming. But he knew when to aimlessly towards Seifer's room, he was lucky that he didn't bump into any of the other kids who stayed, walking into their shared room, he groaned at the mess on the floor. Seriously, Seifer was just repulsive, he left everything everywhere on the floor and more than once, Squall had tripped over a shirt or a shoe sneakily hiding under an item of clothing.

Locking the door behind him, he set to work cleaning up his mess and tentatively pushing Seifer's stuff into a heap by the dresser. Picking up some fairly clean washing Squall blinked when he found an unknown box, peeking out just from under the bed. Instantly curious, Squall looked round the room, feeling foolish afterwards because who was going to see him? Seifer was in town with the others and those who had stayed home couldn't come in because the door was locked. Dumping the stuff uncermoniously he picked up the box, sitting down on Seifer's bed, he looked it over frowning when he realized that it looked a lot like Matron's sewing box.

What was Seifer doing with Matron's sewing box?

Opening it, he was surprised to see it full of odd bits of material, a thick roll of red cotten and a needle. Carefully he looked over the bits of material; Matron had taught them all how to sew and do embroidery, though Squall wasn't very good at either, in fact he was terrible but Matron was too kind to say anything. The material was covered in bits of stitching that didn't really make a picture but more of a mess, though the further he went through the material, the more the random stitching started to make a image. The random bits of stitching weren't random at all.

Turning slightly on the bed, he began to place the bits of fabric on the bed, joining bits and pieces together until he blinked in shock. He stood up, getting a birds-eye view of the image.

It was a image of Griever.

Just what was Seifer doing?

Squall grumbled to himself while clearing the stuff away, even though he was moaning, he couldn't help but feel that Hyne-damn annoying _fuzzy_ feeling. He felt...special. Which was totally ridiculous, because he did not have feelings like this. He was the Ice Prince, born from some crazy woman called Shiva, or so Seifer said. The blond had a very weird imagination. Huffing out a breath of irritation, he dumped the box on the bed, feeling his skin crawl, absently reminding himself of a bristling cat.

Why was he so aggravated over such a little thing? He had no reason to be, it wasn't like Seifer was going to do something big and spectacular for him. Rubbing a hand over his face and letting out a weary sigh, he decided to have a nap, though that went down the drain after a few minutes. His body was thrumming and he felt jittery. He would even go as far to say he was _excited_. He never been excited before not even when Sis was there.

"Squall, lunch!"

Squall groaned and got up, feeling tired but energetic at the same time. He hoped Seifer came back soon so he could take his frustration and excitement out on the blond.

Seifer sneaked into his room, doing a very good job of it too. He had managed to avoid bumping into Squall and it was a good thing too, it would have ruined the surprise other wise. kneeling down on the floor, he hid a small box under his bed, hoping to everything holy that Squall didn't get a sudden bout of curiousness and have a look. Whether the brunette admited it or not, he did have a very curious personality.

Sighing with relief when the small present was hidden enough, he sat back on his heels, spotting Matrons' sewing box on the bed. Having a momentary panic attack, he didn't hear the door open behind him.

"Seifer?" The blond tensed, before slowly gazing over his shoulder. Squall stood in the doorway, looking puzzled about something. Hyne only knew what ran through the brunette's clever but overactive mind. Seifer stood hurriedly and nearly tripped over his own feet, he rubbed sheepishly at the back of his neck, wondering what Squall was thinking.

"Oh, hey Squally. How you've been?" Seifer let ot a huff of air when Squall suddenly dived at him, somehow tackling his larger body to the floor in an act of comendable speed and strength. Squall burried his head into Seifer's shoulder, mumbling into his shirt.

"Don't ever leave without me, 'kay?" It took a few minutes for what Squall said to sink in but when it did, Seifer's big, soft, squidgy heart swelled. That had been Squall talk for 'Oh my Hyne, I missed you!' Seifer noticed that Squall was also wearing one of his jumpers again, even though the weather wasn't all that cold and Cid had most likely put the heating on, if Matron quiet shouting was anything to go by.

"But-"

"Don't leave me like Sis did..." Seifer frowned, hearing the neediness but also fear and loneliness in Squall's voice. He did not like at all. Somehow detangling Squall from his body, he looked Squall seriously in the eyes, nearly squealing when Squall blinked at him with a tint of pink on the brudge of nose. He looked so cute! But he was digressing and acting creepily like Selphie which just wasn't good at all.

Telling the brunette to stay put- after an intense discussion with himself that took about 3 seconds- Seifer reached under the bed once again and pulled his present out. Squall's birthday wasn't until the next day, but hey, Squall was looking all cute and vulnerable who was he to deny him something that would totally cheer him up?

"I got you this for your birthday." Seifer held out the box to the now extremely perplexed Squall who eyed the box as if he expected some sort of crazy monster to jump out of it. "Happy Birthday!" Thrusting the box into Squall hands, Seifer sat, fidgeting slightly as he watched the brunette slowly open the present.

Squall threw the annoying paper way and carefully opened the box's lid only for his jaw to drop in sheer astonishment and wonder. Inside the small box was the Griever necklace and ring, which was miles too big but that didn't matter.

The room was deathly silent and Seifer began to worry that Squall had stopped breathing so he laughed nervously, trying to calm his beating heart.

"H-hey, I'll have to start calling you little Lion, or kitten now.." Squall blinked, gazing up at Seifer before something far scarier and creepier than an angry Selphie happened.

Squall grinned.

Seifer just about _died_ at that point...

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A/N; Yeah I didn't know how to end it, and it would be way too long if I had carried on typing so I left it there. Seriously though, Squall grinning would give anyone a heartattack, though maybe not me, I would have just squealed at how cute he was XD Please Read and Review, it would love to know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own FF8...Do I seriously have to keep repeating this? It so glaringly obvious that I don't own it ¬.¬ *gets poked* ow! Stop doing that! I already said I don't own it! Jeez.

Warnings; Angst and a lot of it. Nasty Seifer, nasty Cid (because I don't like him anyway) sad Squally..

A/N; Yeah, this chapter is an odd one but it makes sense, I hope. The next one is probably a few years after Squall joins Garden, I don't know if I'll write all the chapters regarding the story of the game, I might write a few where Squall and Seifer meet, like the SeeD exam, Timber Tv station, Deiling city; Soceress parade etc etc. I don't know, what do you think? So yeah, please R&R it will be greatly appreciated :)

ENJOYIES!

Squall watched Seifer with narrowed eyes, twirling his Griever necklace silently.

The blond had been acting different lately, often just staring into space with a blank look in his eyes before he would just suddenly snap back to himself and carry on with his bullying which had changed drastically. Seifer's usual teasing had become viscious, more often than not he got grounded and sent to his room. He had also been causing a lot of fights with the other boys and Selphie.

Squall couldn't help but think it had something to do with his birthday, ever since he turned ten, Seifer's personality had changed, he was more volatile, one wrong word and he would explode, shouting at people and on one occasion, he threatened Matron. That was when the brunette had stepped in, getting in the way of the blond and it had seemed to work. Seifer had near instantly become calm, blinking several times as if he had just woken up. Squall had been watching him ever since. Of course he had been on the end of Seifer's new found malice, though at night Seifer would apologiuse and subtly beg for him not to move rooms.

Squall didn't think he could leave Seifer anyway; the blond was his best friend, his rival and his family. But he was worried, one night he had woke up, feeling thirsty so he had trudged sleepily from his room towards the kitchen though he had been surprised when he saw Seifer in the living room, talking to himself. Squall hadn't been able to understand a word he was saying, it was mumbled and incoherent, like he couldn't make up his mind on what he wanted to say.

Squall didn't sleep much that night.

Seifer had been suffering night terrors too, waking up with a foreign name on his lips though it was swiftly forgotten by the time Matron came to the room. Seifer never remembered his dreams but whatever they were about, it terrified him greatly.

"Squall, is there something wrong? You've been staring into space for a long time." Squall blinked, looking up into Matron's eyes, seeing the concern and anxiety in those amber hues. Squall glanced back at Seifer who seemed to be doing a very good impression of him. Matron shifted, she knew that Squall wanted answers but she was unable to answer his questions, she wouldn't endanger her children like that.

"You know something." It wasn't a question and Squall made that glaringly obvious. Matron sighed, bending down to his level, she took him by the shoulders. Gazing deeply into stormy eyes that was much more grown up then they should be.

"...Yes but I cannot tell you." Seeing a icy glare suddenly piercing her, Matron smiled tentatively. " Though I can tell you to stay by Seifer, he might not know it but he needs you as much as you need him-"

"I don't need him!" Squall hissed, interrupting Matron. The woman smiled warmly, shaking her head.

"...Just stay by him, Squall. No matter what. You two...You two have always been drawn to each other, the first day you came here, Seifer was worse, much worse, almost like he is now but as soon as he spotted you, he tried everything to get your attention. Even if it was in the form of bullying. Seifer always did like attention but he didn't normally care who from." Matron shook her head, smiling at the fond memories she had of the two fighting endlessly, arguing like a married couple.

"..And then you gave him your attention, he toned down on his teasing and he became almost tame. He would guard you like a knight, when you wanted to be left alone, he'd scare the other kids off." She sighed sadly, something the brunette didn't miss but he chose not to comment. "I can't tell you why he's changed so much, but I do know that you'll find out soon enough and you will save him, Squall." Standing up, Matron turned to leave, leaving a confused Squall in her wake.

"What do you mean 'save him'?" Squall watched as Matron glided off without answering his question. If he didn't know better, he would say the woman was looking exhausted. Squall huffed, rubbing his temples as he felt a headache swiftly forming, so much was happening and he didn't know why or how it was happening. Matron knew why but she refused to tell him and instead left him with more questions than answers.  
Squall jerked when he heard a scream, looking round the room, he quickly spotted Seifer standing intimidatingly over a crying Zell who was rubbing his arm, looking up at the blond with fear in his eyes.

The other kids just stood there, unsure on what to do, everyone had been tiptoing round Seifer now that he was more malicious. Squall frowned, he hurriedly walked over, pushing the blond away. The others were all too afriad of Seifer now but like Matron said, Seifer needed him and Squall didn't like letting people down.

"Seifer!"

"Move out the way Pretty Boy, you'll get your turn!" The others flinched but Squall stood his ground, a steely glare in his eyes.

"No! This will stop, now." Seifer smirked cruelly, grabbing Squall by the front of his shirt, pulling his other hand back, curling it into a fist. Squall struggled, trying to get Seifer to let go. It all seemed to happen in slow motion, Seifer's fist had been getting closer and Squall had slammed his hand into the blonds chest to push him away when his hand had begun to glow and suddenly Seifer was on the other side of the room, shivering, his lips blue as his T-shirt was covered in frost.

Blinking in shock, it took a few seconds for Squall to rush over to Seifer, gasping when his hand came into contact with Seifers' freezing skin. Calling for Matron, Squall tried to warm Seifer up.

Just what in the world had happened?

-  
(A/N; this is a timeskip-ish.)

Squall sat in the living room, reading. The place was much quieter now, especially without Zell, Selphie and Quistis. They had all been adopted by loving families while he, Seifer and Irvine remained with some other random children he had no love to know personally. It had been a month since the incident with Seifer and the blond had been distancing himself from the brunette. Seifer tried to stay away as much as possible, staying near Matron as if the woman would stop whatever was happening to him.

Though at night, him and Seifer were stuck in the same room and Squall made sure that he stayed close to the blond as much as possible even if he got shouted at or hurt. Not that the blond had hurt him, he always seemed to stop himself before anything occured. Squall didn't know what happened that day, he had used what Matron called magic to stop Seifer from hurting him but even she looked confused. She had mentioned that it was rare for people to just be able to use magic like he had done. But when he asked more questions, Matron would just sigh and shake her head, still refusing to tell him what was going on.

Turning a page, he was surprised when he heard shouting. Seifer was at it again, yelling and throwing insults at someone. Squall closed the book on Sorceress Knights, Seifer had recommended the book after mentioning that he wanted to become an honorable Knight, and stood up. Walking up to the scene he was surprised to see Cid standing there, a grim look on his face. Seifer shook his head, his voice sounding so fragile but full of anger and what sounded like betrayel.

"I'm not leaving with out Squall!" Matron stood off to the side, her hands clenched in her dress. She glanced at Squall, pleading with her gaze for him to not get involved. Of course, when it came to Seifer, the brunette would do anything.

"I understand that, but you're are becoming too dangerous here, you'd be better off at Garden. There you can exercise that anger of yours-"

"Seifer doesn't have to go anywhere!" Walking further into the hall, Squall stood by Seifer. The blond seemed happy that he was there and sticking up for him. Cid shifted, looking at Matron who looked away, not wanting to be any part of it.

"Now Seifer, Squall would be joining you in a years time. It's not that long." Seifer had a scandalized look on face while he gazed at the man as if he had gone crazy. Squall shook his head, grabbing Seifers hand for comfort.

"No! I'm not leaving!" Cid sighed sadly, shaking his head, he made a swift hand sign and Matron gasped, taking an involuntary step forward.

"Cid!" The man looked at his wife as two other men walked in. Detatching Squall with a not so gentle yank and pushed the boy towards Matron who caught the brunette, holding him tightly as he struggled.

Seifer tried to get away from the soldiers but he was only eleven and was no match for their strength but he sure did try, biting one of the mens hand. The man yelped but refrained from taking action at the withering glare Matron sent him. Cid gazed pleadingly at his wife, hoping she understood which she did and only tightened her grip on the struggling boy in her arms.

"Squall!" Seifer called out.

Squall unfortunately was not that understanding.

"Let him go!" Reaching out towards the only family he had left, Squall felt tears well up in his eyes, the same feeling of overwhelming loneliness filling his chest as Seifer was forcively hauled from the Orphanage, kicking and screaming all the way. Cid walked up to Squall, bending down to his level he tried to pat the boy on the shoulder soothingly but got a nasty shock when Squall slapped his hand away, casting a light Blizzard spell while doing so. Matron stood up straighter, glaring down at her husband with cold eyes.

"You should leave..." Without another word, Matron turned away from Cid, taking a now silent Squall with her into the back rooms. Cid sighed, hanging his head, rubbing his cold hand to warm it up. He stared after his wife.

"It is for the best." Standing up, he left the Orphanage and stepped onto the boat, seeing a sleeping Seifer being lead into one of the lower decks. It was obvious that one of the SeeD's had put a Sleep spell on the boy. Nodding to the captain, the boat sailed away for Balamb.

-

Matron knocked on Seifer's, no, _Squall's_ bedroom door, getting no response. Sighing sadly, she opened the door to the dark room. Seeing a small huddled form on Seifers' bed. It had been less than a day since Cid took Seifer to Balamb and Squall had reverted back to his recluse ways, he refused to speak, only saying one word when necessary. He never left his room, barely ate, rarely slept. She couldn't imagine the feeling abandonment Squall was feeling at that moment in time. First Ellone left, admittedly with White SeeD so she would be safe but the girl had been Squall's sister, the only person he opened up to. Then he bonded with Seifer, even though Matron knew they would. They were joined by fate, it was, as sappy as it sounded, their destiny to be with each other, and now they had been ripped apart, the amount of damage done to Squall's psyche was no doubt severe.

Sitting next to Squall on the bed, she refrained from touching him, the last time she had tried, she got attacked with a very nasty Blizzard spell. Sighing she began to hum a soothing lullaby, hoping Squall would fall asleep just for a few hours. A man from Galbadia Garden was coming to take Irvine, since the boy wanted to become a sharpshooter, and she didn't want to seem rude to the fellow if she had to keep checking on Squall.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she spotted Squall alseep, standing silently she covered Squall with a blanket, noticing forlornly that Griever was tightly clutched in Squall's hands. Walking from the room, she hoped that Squall would hold on for a few months until she could convince, more like order, Cid to let Squall into Garden early...

A/N; *cries in corner* OMG I'M SOOOO CRUEL! How could I do that to Squally? I hope he can forgive me DX So yeah, I kind of made Matron know what was going on, 'cos she is a Soceress herself, plus I wanted Squall to be special, so I kind of made him be able to use magic without Junction. Wow I just realized I just used a lot of 'So's which is weird. Please R&R. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Warnings; GF affected Squall and Seifer, meaning they do not remember each other... The forming of the Disciplinary Committee ( I do not actually know how that was formed so..) Seifer might be a little Ooc, the same as Squall. I do try and keep them in character but sometimes I'm just not able too DX.

Disclaimer; *sighs wearily* I do not own Final Fantasy 8...

A/N; Hey! Two chapters in one day. I'm on a roll! Though I doubt I will be as fast as this, now I will really have to think the plot through, think on where I want it to go and stuff, so it might be a wait. Yeah like in the warning, Seify and Squally have already started being affected by the GF's, especially Seifer, just as spoiler where there really isn't any; Cid used the GF's on Seifer early on so he would forget Squall and his slight possession by Ultimecia (you with me?) There fore, that is why it takes up until where the game plot starts for Seifer to fall under the weirdy witch's spell again. Okay I think that makes sense. And! When Squall is allowed into Garden, Cid kind of forwards for the GF's to be used on the Lion so he wouldn't help Seifer remember who he was and stuff...

Wow that sounds heartbreaking. Now Cid has the best intentions but I just don't like him, and I find it annoying that he knows what the GF's can do but still allows the cadets and SeeD's to use them. See now I'm rambling! Please Read and Review and tell me what you think :) 3

ENJOYIES!

* * *

+A few years later- Balamb Garden+  
_

Seifer sat in Detention, eying the brunette in front of him curiously. He didn't know why but he had a feeling he knew the Pretty Boy from somewhere. He had wasted the last ten minutes trying to think _where_ he knew him from with only a headache as a reward.

Of course he didn't deserve to be in Detention, he had, in fact, been doing good in the world. A pretty-miss-nothing had been harassing the brunette in front of him, hanging off his arm and batting her obviously false eye lashes at him to try and get his attention. He had seen how the boy was starting get uncomfortable, trying fruitlessly to get free of the girls hold with no results as she gripped his arm tighter and stepped closer into his personal space.

Now Seifer wasn't all that sure on _why_ he decided to come the brunette's rescue but something was itching away at him, like the girl had no right to be touching him without his permission which was totally ridiculous because Seifer had no idea who the guy was! Still, he had yanked the squealing bitch off of the brunette by the arm, telling her to back off. She had started the dramatics, naturally, holding her arm and sniffing, false crocodile tears welling up in her eyes as she looked between the two of them. She had pointed at them and wailed for all of the cafeteria to hear, she accused him of hurting her and for some odd, incomprehensible reason blamed the brunette of being in league with Seifer.

So here they were in Detention because of Hyne-damned Garden Faculty. Seifer hoped they rotted in hell, they were suppose to keep order in Garden but they did rarely anything of the sort. What the Garden needed was a disciplinary committee, a group of people to take care of the little things that the Faculty had no love for.

That was actually a good idea. He was such a genius, he would have to take it up with the Headmaster. Seifer shuddered at the thought, there was just something about the man that made his hackles rise and anger to flare in his chest. There had been many a times when all the blond could think about was unsheathing Hyperion and slaying the man in cold blood.

"Seifer Almasy, are you listening!" Blinking a few times, Seifer peered up at the Instructor at the end of the room, she looked stern, tapping a ruler in her hand as if she was trying to withhold herself from leaping across the room and hitting him with it. He let out a cocky smirk, sitting back in his seat and resting his feet on the computer panel.

"Oh yes, Instructor, please continue." The instructor huffed, turning on her heels before she stopped and seemed to take a dislike to the brunette. She slammed her ruler down on the desk.

"Squall Leonhart, stop fiddling with your necklace and pay attention! This is Detention, not your dorm rooms." Seifer watched as Squall, he now no longer had to keep refering to him as 'the brunette', looked up, nodded once before going back to his table which seemed mighty fascinating.

The Instructor huffed for breath as she continued the lesson, peering round the classroom once or twice to make sure her two students were paying attention. Which to be perfectly honest, Seifer had no idea what she was going on about, tuning the woman out easily at the start of the lesson. He was too busy doing his _Squall Watching_, he had no idea why examining the brunette was so intriguing, it just was.

The way Squall twirled his pendant round in his fingers, fingers that were slim and almost delicate looking. Brown unruly locks covering stormy blue hues that were as cold as ice, and don't get him started on the leather. In was surely illegal to wear such skin tight trousers! Seifer would have to keep an eye on the brunette, just to make sure the poor guy didn't get attacked, though he wouldn't exactly blame the person who would try. Squall had the grace of a feline, and was Hyne-damned fast and quiet, like some freaky-leather wearing ninja. The brunette's skill with a gunblade was something to be admired too, Seifer had thought he was the only one capable of picking the specialized sword up, so he had been surprised when he had stumbled across the brunette felling some Grats in the Training Centre like he had been weilding that sword since he was born.

Of course, it raised the question of why it took the blond so long to finally know the brunette's name, they were practically in the same class. Maybe he just hadn't noticed the guy till now. Like he said, the guy was quiet, almost a recluse and he blended into the background easily.

That thought didn't sit well with him at all. He felt a annoying tickle in the back of his mind, like he was missing something important, something he really should remember. Seifer blinked when he realized the low toned drawling of the teacher had stopped, the Instructor was no where to be seen but he didn't doubt that the woman had locked them into the classroom. Standing, he stretched, noticing how Squall stiffened in his seat.

"Hey, where the Instructor go?" Seifer wasn't really all that intrested in where the woman had gone off too, he just wanted to make the usually stoic brunette talk. Squall shrugged his one shoulder, barely looking up at the tall blond.

"She said she got tired of us not paying attention."

"What was she droning on about anyway?" Wanting to keep the conversation going with the number one loner in Garden, he pulled a chair closer, sitting on it with the back of the chair at the front so he could rest his arms on it. Squall shifted.

"The affects of using GF's." Seifer found it funny how the brunette seemed wary of him, his voice cold but he detect a faint trace of insecurity. Seifer hummed, observing how Squall kept glancing at him it made that tickling sensation a lot more stronger, he would have to visit Dr. Kadowaki to get that checked.

They fell into silence, Squall obviously flying away with the fairies while Seifer thought of a way to get the Disciplinary Committee up and running, he would need a petition, and some supporters which might be a little hard, he wasn't the most loved person in Garden. His brash, and almost rude personality as well as his teasing made a lot of people dislike him.

"I'll sign the petition." Seifer almost fell out of his chair when he gaze refocused into the present only to come face to face with Squall, who had at# some point moved closer and was looking at him intently.

"What?"

"I said, I'll sign the Petition."

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Seifer almost flushed at the pointed stare he got in return to his question.

"You talk to yourself."

"Really? I thought I had grown out of that." Seifer watched as Squall's lips twitched in what looked like a smile before his face became stoic again and he sat back, seeming to wordlessly end the conversation. Seifer frowned.

"So you'll sign a petition that will give me the power to probably get away with teasing the whole Garden? Why?"

Squall shrugged.

"That's not an answer y'know."

"Whatever."

Seifer huffed, it was like talking to a brick wall all of a sudden. That would have to change.

"So, does your parents let you wear that kind of stuff, or are you rebelling and becoming an emo?"

A chilly glare that could rival Shiva's Diamond Dust.

"Whatever."

Seriously, that word was getting old, and fast. Seifer stared at the brunette who had started to fiddle with his fingers, messy cocoa locks covering his face. The blond didn't like being ignored, especially from someone who was just fascinating. Squall was a walking, talking freezer and yet he was willing to give him, Seifer, a possibility to become even less famous but with more power to discipline the students.

"Okay...So when I get the Petition form I just come knocking at your dorm room?"

Squall nodded, suddenly looking up at the automatic doors when the red light above them turned green, signaling that Detention was over. Before Seifer could even think of opening his mouth, Squall was gone. Seifer sighed, dropping his head on the back of the chair, frowning when he spotted a ring on the desk Squall was at.

Picking the object up, he examined it, raising a brow at the lions head on the silver band, it reminded him vaguely of an ancient GF He had seen in some random book. He placed the ring in his pocket, making a metal note to look up GF's before giving it back to Squall.

But first things first, to get the petition form.

* * *

A/N; yeah, the next chapter might have Seifer having like flashbacks in his dream, kind of like Squall has in the game about Ellone. Though I might make it be Squall, not entirely sure. Now beware, I'm not really all that good at writing cocky and stuff, so it might be a total fail there but I can write Squall, which is just glares, and a lot of 'whatever's. Simplez! Please R&R! :)


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer;...I'm not going to say it, you can poke me all you like...Wait! No! You can't burn my copy of FF8! Noooooo! Okay, okay! I surrender! *waves white flag* I do not own Final Fantasy 8, only a copy of the game! *hugs game close*

Warning; slight implied gore. A probably Ooc Seifer and ULTIMECIA! controlling Seifer, boooooo

Word warnings; _**blah blah blah**_ is Ultimecia. '_blah blah blah'_ are Seifer's thoughts.

A/N: Yoies! Another chapter, this story is going to be mainly in Seifer's POV, just thought I should tell you, even though I'm pretty sure you've figured it out ^/^. Now don't worry, the lovey dovey stuff will be coming soon but I'm not going to rush it, this story is going to have a plot! ^-^ Now I can't write lemons even if my life depended on it, so the the lovey dovey stuff will come in the form of FLUFF! 'cos I can write that :) Oh yeah, I'm on disc two now! Does anyone know where I can get Dragon Fangs? The guide told me to get them from Lvl 20 to Lvl 30 T-Rexaurs but I fought loads of them and they didn't drop any and now I'm waaaaaaaaaaay past Lvl 30. I want the LionHeart gunblade man! It's so pretty *-* I want a flying battle fortress too _ it's so awesome! Well, maybe not as awesome as Ragnarok but it's still pretty awesome. Zell might be a loser but he's good at stealing items which is good because I like having a lot items and! I'm challenging the CCGroup which is fun, I miss my Ifrit card though v-v Stupid Rinoa card. My best card hand, without the Ifrit card, is Seifer, Zell, Quistis, Siren and Minotaur (or however you spell the last one) It's a good hand to play cards with, even better if you have the Ifrit card ¬_¬

...Yes, I like emoticons, they're so cool! Anyway, I think I have rambled enough, so, like, please Read and Review!

ENJOYIES!

Seifer stared at the automatic door to Squall's room as if it was going to jump at him and rip him apart if he even thought of glancing away. He nervously fiddled with the Griever ring in his pocket, trying to gain some courage to press the doorbell, or even knock. Of course he had a reason to be anxious, the person in the room probably _was_ going to jump and rip him apart after what he had done.

He hadn't meant to do it, he would never stoop so low to scar someone in such a easy place to see and he now wore a matching scar because of it. He wasn't all that bothered about the dark pink line now running between his eyes, he deserved it for what he did. He had no excuse.

But the voice...

The voice had made him do it, as crazy as it sounded, it was true! He had been hearing a woman's voice in his mind, taunting him near constantly. It got worse when he was near Squall. It seemed that the _voice_ didn't like the brunette all that much, though he didn't hear it all the time, just in inconvenient times.

Like in the middle of a harmless spar.

It had been a practise spar, the SeeD exam was coming up and it seemed that Squall had been tolerating the blond just for that opportune battle. Seifer had readily agreed, wanting to make sure the brunette was ready for a dangerous SeeD exam.

It had been going fine, just easy swings of the gunblades until he had heard it, that damned annoying voice in his mind.

_**Harm him...  
Kill him...  
He deserves it..  
Make him bleed...!**_

He had raised his hand in a sign that he surrendered when he found himself summoning a Fire spell instead, it had been like a out-of-body experience, he could see, hear, feel everything but he was powerless to stop any of it. He watched as Squall sat up, dazed by the spell. He felt his arm swing Hyperion above his head and the distinct feeling absolute horror filling his chest as he brought the blade down, the sound of blood splattering across the rocky terrain.

And then it had been like an elastic band snapping, he was suddenly back in control, gazing down at a pissed Squall who stood sliding Revolver along the floor. The only thought passing through the blond's mind was _'Squall has beautiful eyes...'_ before the sharp stab of pain made itself known between his eyes and he stumbled back.

It had taken a few minutes to realize that Squall wasn't hacking him apart, shouting and cussing every bad word known to man. Blinking, Seifer glanced down, seeing the brunette in his arms, passed out cold. He could feel the man's life force seep into his trench coat and that seemed to snap him into action.

He had grabbed Revolver and Hyperion, hooking both blades onto his belt before hauling Squall up into his arms, feeling the teens dead weight and wondering of the brunette ate _anything_.

He had turned and headed for the Infirmary, wondering if he was going to get expelled.

Now he was thinking if he was ever going to move his hand. He hadn't seen Squall since, he knew the other had plans to go the Fire Cavern with, whats her name, oh, Instructor Trepe tomorrow but when he didn't know. He could bet his whole life that the Trepies were jealous, slowly boiling away while giving Squall the evil eye. They wouldn't dare hassle Squall because they would have him on their little puny asses.

He would know if anything happened, he had, unintentionally, been stalking the brunette. His good, and slightly scary, friend Fuujin had noticed, giving him a sly look with her one red eye while leaving certain _notes_ on his bed, notes he didn't dare think about. How she got into his room was mystery. Of course there was an idea that she scared the hell out of Cid to get his code, it wasn't intirely impossible. And with that boneheaded brute called Raijin by her side, she was able to get what she wanted easily.

So lost in his thoughts, Seifer didn't see a wandering Zell come down the corridor until it was possibly too late from letting the blond see him. Zell stopped and stared hard for a few minutes before he scowled and tried to stand to his full height, which failed obviously as Seifer was taller then him anyway.

"What do you want, Chicken?" The response was easy to predict...

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!" Seifer couldn't help the smirk when Zell started to box right next to him, his gloved fists getting a little close to his face for anyones comfort. It didn't bother him, he could very easily just grab one of those swinging arms and break it. Zell was good as a boxer but he got a little carried away, too emotionally involved.

"Are you deaf, chicken?" Zell opened his mouth to retort until it suddenly snapped shut, his eyes going so wide, Seifer thought that they might fall out of his sockets. It was then he sensed it, he didn't have to turn round for comfirmation, the _what-the-hell-do-you-want?_ glare slowly burning holes into his back was obvious.

Squall knew he was here.

Seifer cursed every foul word known, ignoring a scuttling Zell who was making a quick retreat, the blond wasn't as stupid as Seifer thought he was. He took a deep breath and very, very leisurely turned round, kind of expecting the fist hitting his jaw. Squall looked angry, his eyes shining a bright sliver in the flourescent lighting.

Ignoring his throbbing jaw, Seifer wracked his brain for something to say. He had this all planned out earlier but thanks to that Hyne-forsaken chicken-wuss, he had forgotten everything.

"Get in..." Seifer followed Squall's orders, trying not to think how Squall kind of reminded him of a bristling kitten when angry. This was a serious conversation, he hoped. Squall didn't have the most greatest of social skills.

"Squall-"

"Shut_ up_!" Seifer obeyed readily, examining the similier scar of the brunette's face. He couldn't say it actually marred Squall looks because it didn't, in fact if he was going to be all girl about it, he would say that Squall looked better _with_ the scar.

"What happened?"

"Huh?"

"..." Seifer shifted in the door way, trying not to suddenly glance round the room. He had always been too nosy for his good. He took deep breath, trying to ready himself for when Squall called him crazy for what he was about to say.

"Look. I didn't mean to-"

"I know that, but, why did it happen?" Seifer blinked, Squall knew he hadn't meant to scar him, was the brunette psychic? Shaking his head of such silly thoughts, he took another deep breath.

"...I've been hearing a voice in my head, okay? I know you think I've probably gone nutty. _I_ think I've gone crazy but it took over my body...Squall?"

The brunette wasn't looking _at him_, he was looking past him. Seifer knew that expression, the brunette was having a serious self-monologue with himself, he only did it when he was trying to figure something out. Seifer frowned suddenly.

"Wait! You knew I didn't actually mean to scar your pretty face?" He couldn't help it, he flirted, though it sounded a lot more sarcastic then flirtatious, when he was nervous. Luckily Squall ignored him in favour of continuing his self-monologuing.

It took an agonizing ten minutes before Squall came out of his thoughts, blinking rapidly to get rid of the haze over his eyesight. Seifer had been good, he had stood in one place, he hadn't moved, he hadn't snooped round Squall's bedroom to see if the brunette had more bondage gear like his many belts. He had been patient! He had been a good boy.

Somehow, Seifer thought he deserved a treat.

How strange.

"I want you to tell me more about this voice, Seifer."

Seifer nodded, sitting down of the brunette's rather comfy bed, feeling relief wash over him. It had...soothed him to know that while he annoyed the hell out of Squall, the other was still his friend that he could confide in.

Hmph, and the brunette said he didn't like hearing other peoples problems..

A/N; FINISHED! whoo! Yeah, the weirdy witch is coming back! NOOOOO . but it is needed for the plot and so I can probably do a Timeskip lol.. As you may have read in the Authors Note at the top, this is in mainly Seifer's POV meaning, there will be a lot of timeskips because most of the time he'll be controlled by Ultimecia, is that how spell it? She's called the weirdy witch now, okay? It's easier ¬-¬ Please R&R! 3


	7. Chapter 7

Warnings; None really except a teeny bit of bad language, 'sunbathing' Seifer XD Ifrit having a love intrest. THE WEIRDY WITCH, though she isn't really mentioned much...

Disclaimer; ME NO OWNIES! Final Fantasy 8 belongs to Square-Enix forever and ever and ever!

A/N: Hey! Peeps! Chapter 7! Like the furthest I have ever gone in such a small amount of time! PARTY! Yes, I am excited, really excited! Like UBER excited and I have done chapie 8, just going over it for mistakes as I don't like them, though my grammer isn't the greatest in the world. Anyway, I noticed that when you fight Ifrit in the Fire Cavern, he kind of goes on about Shiva, so yeah, I just had to put that in! XD. I warned you at the start that this might be a little weird. The one thing I'm worried about, is the timeskips, I don't want them to be too far apart and I want this story to me mainly in Seifer's point of view but it means I would have to improvise and I don't want to ruin it. And now I'm spazzing out =_= So yeah, please R&R! Oh and just to let you know, Ultimecia can _kind _of tell that Seifer is more immune to her...influences, persuasions and the like, when he is with Squall, that is why she tends to control him round the Little Lion so Squall will stay away from Seifer, shame Squall's so stubborn, huh?

ENJOYIES!

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Seifer slouched on a bench outside of the Garden gates, a pair of sunglasses resting lightly on the top of his head. It was a hot day and it would've been murder to wear his trench coat, so he decided to go casual, there was nothing better to do then lounge around anyway. Most of the students were on their field exam, basically they went to the Fire Cavern, defeated the same GF and then went back to Garden for a few hours before being sent off on a real life, you-could-die-in-battle SeeD exam to prove if you have the guts to get off the transporter or not.

He had already done his exam, passed with flying colours, it was rather simple when you were on you third or fourth SeeD exam. He was sure Ifrit was getting sick of seeing him every year, the GF had actually given him a pointed stare as if to ask why he kept trying. The Guardian Force had yielded pretty fast, obviously wanting to get rid of him.

Yawning, Seifer stretched out on the bench, taking up all the remaining space easily. He looked over when he heard voices, only to sigh when he saw it was just some airheaded cadets, giggling madly over something someone said in the cafeteria. He lay back down, closing his eyes and soaked up the sun rays.

"What are you doing out here, y'know?" Peeking a eye open, Seifer groaned when he noticed Raijin had found him.

"Sunbathing."

"Really? Fu is not going to believe that. I think she might get the idea that you're waiting for someone, y'know."

Seifer glared at the tanned man, hating the fact that Raijin wasn't as boneheaded as he looked. He sat up, refusing to speak. It was useless anyway, Fujin had caught on to his protective, bordering on possessive, nature over Squall and as the brunette was helping him survive against the voice in his head, he got just a little bit fidgety when he knew Squall was off doing something dangerous.

The field exam to the Fire Cavern wasn't all that dangerous if you knew what you were doing and he didn't doubt that Squall was a good fighter but just one wrong move against a Bomb or against Ifrit and the brunette could get seriously hurt. He had thought about going with Squall but thought better of it, Squall was still mighty pissed about him not telling him about the creepy ass voice in his head.

"You tell her I'm waiting for him and you're dead Rai." Raijin raised his hands in the air in a sign of defense.

"Whoa dude! We're a posse, y'know. I'd never tattle on you." Rai eyes were wide, a sign that he was being honest. Seifer smirked and sat back, glancing at his watch. He tried not to be concerned, from what he had seen lately, Squall could handle a T-Rexaur on his own and win but that didn't stop him from worrying. Without Squall, the voice in his head would have drove him to insanity. He was hoping he could pass this SeeD exam, he really did want to become a SeeD and there was no doubt in his mind that Squall would pass, the brunette was Cid's favourite which was slightly troubling as Seifer didn't like that thought, he had shown his dislike for the headmaster many times and even Squall was beginning to get annoyed with the man's actions.

Raijin whistled lowly, making Seifer twitch in surprise, the blond had forgot he was there.

"Well I'm off, y'know." Seifer frowned at Raijin's suddenly retreating form but dismissed it when he heard a familier voice. He looked over, spotting Quistis and Squall, he let out a relieved breath when he noticed that Squall wasn't hurt. He got up and stealthily stalked towards them.

"Well done, you fought well against Ifrit and even convinced him to join you. I can tell you that it has never happened before, you must've impressed him." Seifer snickered at the deadpan look on Squall's face, even he knew that Ifrit had a thing for Shiva, who wouldn't? Shiva was the epitome of beauty, forever crystalized in ice, a lot like Squall, actually, no wonder Squall got her as a junctionable GF, the brunette was like her child from another mother. So it wasn't surprising that Ifrit joined Squall just to get close the ice weilding GF.

"Anyway, you can go and rest for a while, just meet me in front of the Directory panel at 18:00 for your team debriefing." Seifer didn't miss the meaning behind her words and neither did Squall, the brunette just chose not comment and nodded his head stiffly. Quistis waved as she walked off, never spotting a lurking Seifer as she practically batted her lashes at Squall. Seifer snorted, finding it rather funny that Squall never took notice of the girls who were trying to get into his pants. When he was sure that the Instructor was out of eyesight, he looked back, only to find the sneaky brunette had disappeared, just how did he do that?

"Seifer..." Seifer jumped out of his skin and turned his head, coming face to face with Squall who was glaring at him, his stormy eyes glittering a brighter colour in the filtered sun rays that slipped through the leaves. That raised the question of why Seifer was hiding behind a tree but the blond chose not to think on it as Squall was right in front of him and in perfect health.

"Hey, how did your field exam go? Was Trepe hanging off your arm, acting all scared?"

"It was fine, though when we arrived Ifrit was grumbling about something before he challenged us. Something about a capricious blond who wouldn't give up..."

Seifer laughed nervously, and here he thought him and Ifrit had been getting along pretty well considering they only met each other once a year. He was slightly worried what the fire GF might tell Squall but he noticed that the other hadn't junctioned the GF.

"You haven't junctioned him?"

"No. I don't want him bothering Shiva, it's bad enough I have her chatting away."

"Now who's the one with voices in his head."

Squall gave him a stare that could chill anyone's bones. It was well known that GF's didn't really talk to their 'hosts' but there was rare cases where the GF grew attached to its host and refused to be junctioned to anyone else, obviously Shiva had took a liking to Squall and guided him often.

"Seifer..." Squall frowned, looking like he wanted to ask something, he turned away from the blond refusing to let the other see how conflicted he was. Seifer waited, knowing that Squall never asked for anything unless it was strictly necessary so he wasn't about to rush the brunette. He watched as Squall turned back to face him when there was a magical surge from within his mind, causing him to lose his breath.

Squall was there, watching him like a hawk just in case Seifer went off on a killing spree. Nothing happened, Seifer just stood there rasping heavily.

"Seifer..?" The blond chuckled breathlessly, breathing in ragged gasps of air.

"_It_ really doesn't like you, and you don't have to worry so put that Blizzard spell away." Squall looked a little surprised and looked down at his glowing hand. He shook it, dismissing the spell easily before his nose wrinkled as he lost himself in thought. Seifer stood a little straighter, breathing in air a lot easier than before. The magical surges were getting worse as if they was building up to something big and probably terrible. Knowing Seifer's luck, he was probably getting possessed by some crazy Sorceress.

"Hey, Squall?" The brunette glanced at him, his eyes holding a tint of confusion. "You don't need to worry, I'm fine, though the fact that you care so much is heartwarming." Seifer nearly smirked at the scowl Squall sent him, though the look of confusion never left his eyes. Seifer sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at the smaller man.

"Okay, what's bothering you."

"Nothing."

"Bullshit, spill."

Squall sighed. " I don't know how I summoned Blizzard, I haven't got any stocked, I gave them to Quistis before we entered the Fire Cavern."

Oh, wow, now that _was_ confusing. Seifer rubbed at his chin, noting absently that he needed to shave, Squall was gazing at him, obviously waiting for him to come out with a totally ridiculous answer that was more than likely wrong. But something about the situation seemed mighty familier, like it had happened before a long time ago. Shaking his head to get rid of the thoughts and to get rid of the headache that had been worming its way into his temples, he gave Squall a intense look before shrugging.

"Strange, maybe Shiva had lended you her magic." At Squall's pointed, deadpan look Seifer raised his hands in the air. " Hey, you never know, there's records of stranger things happening between SeeD's and Junctioned GF." Squall seemed to accept that answer and relaxed just slightly. The brunette never really relaxed fully, unless he was asleep, something Seifer had been privy to only once...

"Alright, all this intense thinking is frying my braincells, time for a spar before we go off on our SeeD exam." At the mention of the exam, Squall tensed, his face going stoic, telling Seifer that the brunette was a teeny bit nervous, though the slight tilt of Squall's lips told the blond he was smiling.

Squall nodded, leaving first with the blond following a few seconds behind so not to be suspicious. It would be bad if rumours started to spread about them, though both gunbladers failed to notice a smirking Fuujin, sneakily hiding a camera. If they had noticed, they would have destroyed the camera for the greater good.

The silverette now had blackmail material on both of them...

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A/N; Hehehehe, I love Fuujin, she's awesome. The next chapter will be a timeskip. I was going to do the SeeD exam, but I have a really rubbish memory and I couldn't remember the dialogue, but if I do a chapter that requires some of the dialogue, I will try to remember as much as I can, promise. Please Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer;...I do not own.

Warnings; Timeskip, shocked and in _loooooove_ Squall. Possessed Edea. THE WEIRDY WITCH aka Ultimecia controlling Seifer.

A/N; I just realized that Squall in FF8 thinks about Seifer, _a lot_. Like loads! Which is soooooooo cute! Now this chapter is Squall POV and takes place in Deiling City, or is basically another Treno(which is from FF9 and is the same) I find that a little suspicious, but never mind. Not much for this chapter, it's more of a filler chapter then anything, it's just to help the story along as I don't want too much of gap in the Timeskips. Oh and I missed out the Timber Tv Station 'cos I couldn't come up with a good enogh story for it :( So sorry about that. But this chapter has hints about it though, so I tried. I've been poorly this past week, which is a bummer! Mainly because I'm too sleepy to write. But I'm on the mend! Oh and just because I like talking about FF8, I'm seriously pis-peeved at my guide! I'm on my way to Trabia, and before that my guide says that I can finish the CCgroup quest, by facing Xu as the CCgroup Queen but I've tried challenging her and I can't :( and now i'm heading for Trabia and I still can't challenge her! I want the Carbuncle card, damnit! and the Gilgamesh card, which I can't get until I face the CCgroup king, who I can't face until I've challenged Xu! Ugh PAINFULLY ANNOYING! So yes, if you could help me on that, I would be sooooo grateful!

PS; thanks to all those who have reviewed! You have made me all warm inside and I'm really happy you like the story!

ENJOYIES!

"Squall, are you okay? You've been staring at nothing for ages." Looking up at Rinoa, Squall sighed, he gave her a curt nod before looking back at the metal floor of the clock tower. Irvine was sitting next to the rifle, his hat obscuring his face. He didn't try to guess what the cowboy was feeling, even from where he was sitting, he could see the other man's hands shaking subtly. The tension was thick in the air, they all knew this mission had a high percentage of failure, they weren't prepared to fight a Sorceress, whether they were SeeD or not.

They had been thrown into this mission with barely any information or time to prepare for the battles ahead. There was no doubt that Irvine hadn't heard of this mission until Garden Master Martine had called him over and dumped him on them.

Squall knew Rinoa's cheery facade was just that, a mask to cover her nervousness of fighting in a real battle where hundreds of lives were at stake. Trying to liberate Timber and fighting a powerful Sorceress were two different things. He also knew Rinoa was confused as to why Seifer was with the Sorceress, it was now obvious that it was the murderous witch that had saved the blond from execution, still Seifer wouldn't just _join_ a Sorceress who was out for world domination and who would kill anyone who opposed of her plans. Seifer had dreams of being a Knight, not a slave.

"Squall, do you think we'll have to fight Seifer?" Squall flinched at Rinoa's words, he had figured out her and Seifer's relationship and he didn't even like to metally admit it but he felt jealous. He rubbed at his middle finger where his missing Griever ring would have been, he still hadn't got it back from the blond, trying to ignore the urge to tell Rinoa that he had known Seifer for a lot longer than she had and that she didn't deserve him. But he couldn't, it wasn't his place to interfere in Seifer's life.

"Squall-"

"I don't know. He's with the Sorceress." He said, as if that explained everything. Rinoa scowled, annoyed at the lack of words and reaction. She stood from her seat, placing her hands on her hips. Squall could see that she was gearing up to give him another lecture about showing his emotions more, to speak more. It was basically the same lecture Quistis gave him. Standing quickly, he made his way over to Irvine, ignoring Rinoa's quietly hissed "This isn't over!" Squall sat next to the cowboy, saying nothing.

Irvine said nothing but the slight tilt of his lips told Squall the man was laughing internally at his quick escape. Irvine tipped his hat back, showing how drawn his face was, it was tight with nervousness and his eyes didn't hide the anxiety at all. That also included the worry for a certain bouncy brunette.

"Do you think Selphie...and the others are alright?"

"Quistis is in charge..." Squall hated being comforting, it just wasn't his forte, third to being emotional and talkative. "They'll be fine." Squall saw the man breathe out a sigh of relief, his body relaxing as he tapped his finger against the long metal barrel of the rifle. Was a few words really that soothing? Squall didn't understand, he couldn't comprehend why people depended on others. It was stupid, you couldn't trust others to carry your burdens for you, to make your problems go away because in the end they either stabbed you in the back or died. Then what? You were left on your own, unable to help yourself because all you know was to give your problems to other people. He didn't or want to depend on people, he was just fine on his own.

Then why did it bother him so much when he heard that Seifer was sentenced to death?

Whether he liked it or not, he had gotton used to Seifer's constant prescence, his flirtatious teasing. The spars, his uncanny ability to piss Zell off by calling him one word. Seifer's knowing looks when Squall refused to talk, the fact that he didn't _have_ to talk for the blond to understand him. And much, much more.

He had grown dependant on Seifer.

He hated the thought, he had been alone all his life, or what he could remember of it. He didn't need people, well, not like he needed Seifer it seemed...

Squall jolted back from his thoughts when the clock tower groaned to life, the gears clanking before working smoothly. Apparations of clowns appeared, swirling round in a slow dance. Squall looked over the city of Deiling as it came into view. The Sorceress was just coming up to the Gateway. The endless mass of people were still cheering, too lost in their own mindless slavery to realize that the Sorceress had killed President Deiling in front of them.. He noticed the gate being lowered with little trouble, trapping the Sorceress. It was now or never.

"Irvine Kinneas!"

"I...I can't...I'm sorry, I can't do it. I always choke like this... I try to act all cool, joke around, but I just can't handle the pressure..."

"Forget it. Just shoot." Squall could hear the panic starting to show in his voice, they were running out of time.

"My bullet... The Sorceress... I'll go down in history. I'd the history of Galbadia... Of the world! It's all too much..." Irvine cried, obviously failing under the pressure. Squall took a calming breath, it would not do for him to maim the man. Adopting his persna as the Ice Prince, he spoke deceptively calm, trying not to show his own anxiety and failing when he saw Irvine wince.

"Enough. Just shoot."

"I can't, damnit!"

"Irvine, calm down. Everyone is waiting on you. I don't care if you miss. Whatever happens, just leave the rest to us. Just think of as a signal. A sign for us to make our move." Irvine gazed at him almost pleadingly, making Squall just a little uncomfortably. Time was wasting away slowly.

"Just a signal..."

_That's it._ "Please."

Irvine climbed to his knee's, resting the rifle on the ledge, trying to ignore the ruckus from down below. He cocks the gun, ready to fire.

"Just a sign."

Squall nodded, flinching slightly when the rifle went off. The bullet soared through the air, heading for the Sorceress only to hit a protective shield. Edea scowled, anger burning in her amber eyes.

Irvine breathed out a huff of air, sliding down to the floor. He dropped the rifle, shame lining every part of his body. Squall could see that the man was annoyed and embarrassed that he had 'missed'.

"I'm sorry." Squall shook his head, standing and pulling out Shear Trigger.

"It's ok. Your aim was perfect. Just leave the rest up to me. I'm goin' in for the Sorceress. Irvine, Rinoa, just be ready to back me up." He said as he walked over to edge of the clock tower, glancing back at Irvine. "Take care of Rinoa." Squall abruptly jumped off the ledge, ignoring Rinoa's shocked gasp and slammed down his gunblade into a Galbadian soldier's shield, crippling the man easily from the force. He hi-jacked a nearly conveniently placed convertable, knowing he would never get to the Sorceress on foot, not with the whole Galbadian army in the city. He drove as fast as he could in the crowded streets, it was complete anarchy, people fighting with soldiers, fighting with each other. Was this what the Sorceress wanted? To watch people destroy each other for no reason? Glancing up he saw the gates and the glowing back end of the Sorceress's float. Stamping on the brake, he skidded the car sideways, slamming it none too gently into the gates, knocking himself from the car and through the bars.

He didn't waste any time, he grabbed onto the neon bar and pulled himself up, climbing the large vehicle and moving along the sides until he reached the front before climbing up, coming face to face with Seifer and the Sorceress.

He ignored the blonds' malicious smirk, telling himself now wasn't the time to mentally point out how good looking Seifer was, even when he was on the wrong side of the battle field.

Gripping Shear Trigger's handle tightly, he prepared himself for a battle he might not survive..

-  
A/N: OMG it's so hard to right your own version of events round the dialogue! But I think I managed pretty well...ish. I left out the talking on the float, if I did put it in, the chapter wold be waaaay too long and I'd end up doing the battle which is frightening 'cos I can't write battle scenes to save my little life DX Am I the only one who noticed how conveniently placed the car was? Like he does a impressive dive from the clock tower and takes out a G-soldier before just finding a car there. Sounds suspicious to me. Anyway, Squall is realizing his feelings, even though I'm sure it's a little sudden, boo. But he thinks a lot so it wouldn't be surprising if he figured out he had crush on a certain, bad ass blond, though he would probably deny it and internally try to ignore his feelings until Seifer annoyed him enough to admit it. Well that's what I think. It was really hard writing this chapter and it some places it seems rushed, I apologize for that. AND! Just because I like giving spoilers, the next chapter will be back in Seifer's POV and in D-District Prison, you don't actually know how Squall's big-ass-hole-in-the-shoulder wound is just suddenly healed. So I'll be doing my own take on that ^-^ Oh and please R&R!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer; So, like I still _don't_ own FF8 but it is on my wish list, though it might be a while before I do DX

Warnings; injured Squall, sad-ish Seifer. THE WEIRDY WITCH! Hints of Ellone. Hints of the Missile Base.

A/N; So HELLO my readers. I know I have taken a long time to update but that was because I have been busy babysitting ¬.¬ Anyway, there is hints of Ellone's power in this chapter, as in there's a dream sequence(though it's not very long) because I found it a little strange that Squall and the rest of the Orphanage gang got effected by Ellone's power but not Seifer. I had an idea for chapter ten being in Selphie's POV but it might just end up either being in Seifer's POV. And! I was thinking about doing a chapter where Galbadia Garden learns to fly XD! Mainly because you see Balamb go all moving battle fortress but not the G-Garden. Either way it could be a while. Sorries!

ENJOY!

Seifer stared at the prone form lying on the thin, metal lined bed in the small, cramped cell. He couldn't believe that Squall was still alive after being impaled by a large spear of ice, surely it was Hyne's luck that it had gone through Squalls' shoulder and not a few inches to the right where his heart lay.

He couldn't help but feel guilty, it was all his fault. If only he hadn't foolishly gone to Timber to help Squall with his mission, he would never have of met the Sorceress and been took over by her magic.

But he couldn't just sit there, in detention while Squall was placed in unneeded danger because Rinoa was too stupid to realize how dangerous and selfish her plans were. He regretted ever introducing her to Cid, if he had known the idiotic man would send Squall, he would have escaped sooner, stopped the brunette before he left on the train and maybe the other gunblader wouldn't be in this situation.

Nevertheless, the ice spear was still imbedded in Squalls shoulder, though the area looked fine considering it had chunk ice stuck in it, no infection or even frost bite that could lead to more serious things. He was sure that was Shiva's doing, she was technically inside Squall.

The cell shook and Seifer frowned, D-District prison was moving again, that was the second time in an hour. When he had arrived with most of the G-Army dragging Squall and the others in along with them, it seemed Ultimecia was done with controlling him for now and he had the same feeling of an elastic band snapping inside his brain before he was in control of his own body. At first he felt like throwing up whatever he had ate the night before the Parade, then he felt angry, angry that he had let himself be brainwashed and hurt the only person he really cared about besides Fuujin and Raijin. Then he felt like he should pull out Hyperion and murder the idiot soldier who dared to touch Squall's gunblade and actually play around with it.

Of course he didn't do that, no he found out what cell they had put the brunette in to see if the other was still breathing. It was obvious that Sorceress 'Edea' wasn't going to heal Squall, why should she? He was the one who challenged her on his own, the other two appearing near the end to give him back up. And she was still a bit pissed that Squall had managed to survive her magical barrages.

Sighing deeply, Seifer grabbed the ice spear. He took another deep breath before yanking the ice out, wincing when he saw all the blood slathered over the ice. The frozen projectile hissed before dispersing into nothing.

Pulling out a potion, he gently opened Squall's mouth, pouring the tasteless liquid down the mans throat rubbing his Adams' apple so he wouldn't choke on the fluid. Squall coughed and groaned as his shoulder began to heal, the wound knitting together instantly until it was nothing more than a dark pink line that would fade in a few hours.

Seifer had been terrified when he saw the brunette stumble backwards, looking at him as if he had been waiting for the blond to whip out Hyperion and slay the bitch for hurting him. Which he would have gladly of done if Ultimecia hadn't caught on to his thoughts and strengthened her hold on him, pulsing her magic through his body until he could barely breath, never mind mentally fight over his own body. Though the witch had found it entertaining when Squall had fallen over the edge of the float, enjoying his fear and pain for the other gunblader until he had passed out in the end from it all.

Seifer had been sure the brunette had died, it wasn't until he gained consciousness(from with in his own mind don't forget, weird...) that he had seen Squall, breathing heavily and still alive.

Seifer flinched when the ugly feeling of magic flittered over his mind though this was different, softer, lighter, less painful and more... caring. Though that didn't stop the loud ringing from sounding with in his eardrums, deafening him until he collasped next to Squall, clutching his head as the ringing got louder...

_It was raining._

_It always seemed to be doing that lately, ever since Ellone had left the sky thought it would be best to mirror a certain brunette's mood. Pouring of rain and gale force winds rattled the window panes, making one hell of a racket. Matron sat in her old worn rocking chair, reading a book to Selphie who sat upon her lap, sucking her thumb thoughtfully. Irvine and Zell sat on the floor, playing Snap. The energetic blond losing everytime much to the others amusement._

_Quistis was...somewhere, probably practicing her long lectures in front of Matron's full length mirror. Seifer sat at the window, ignoring the wind and watching as Squall stood on the porch, his dull cries for his Sis to come back pulling at the blonds heartstrings. He longed to go out there and hold the smaller boy close, mumbling words of comfort until he stopped shaking._

_Squall always stood in the same spot all day long unless it was for food or drink, Matron had tried to convince him to come in many times but failed. The brunette refused to be moved. Many a times Seifer had felt like grabbing a chair and sitting out there with him, proving that he wasn't alone but Matron wouldn't let him, saying he would get ill in that type of weather. _

_If so, then why was Squall still out there?_

_Huffing out a breath of irritation, Seifer stood from his seat and quickly ran to his room, grabbing his water proof jacket and one of his old jumpers he never seemed to wear anymore. He charged for the front door, ignoring Matron's stern words for him not to go out there. Squall needed him! He needed to know that he didn't need Ellone anymore. Slamming the front door, he hurried over to the shivering brunette, tackling the smaller boy into his old jumper before he could even blink. When that was all done, Seifer leaned against the wall, giving Squall a stare that said; 'I'm not leaving.'_

_It was the first time Seifer had ever seen Squall smile._

Seifer gasped, blinking rapidly to rid the haze over his eyesight. The cold, metal walls of the cell quickly coming back into focus as did Squall. The brunette looking more peaceful since the projectile had been removed which was understandable.

Seifer struggled to get to his feet, the dream having knocked his strength from him. What a weird dream, it had felt almost like it was real, like he had been reliving something he had forgotten.

Though he felt kind of violated, all these Sorceress's kept invading his mind like it was some sort of open show house. He hoped whoever it was, they didn't think he was just willing to be their slave, it was bad enough Ultimecia had a sick sense of what was fun, playing chicken with his body, seeing how far she could push his body before he started to mentally fight back. It was sad that she always seemed to win.

He was knocked out of his thoughts when Squall groaned, his brows furrowing as if he was in pain. That instantly had all thoughts of Ultimecia out of the blonds mind, he leaned over the brunette, checking his shoulder just in case he had missed something. It wouldn't be surprising if Edea had poisoned him as well. When nothing showed up, Seifer began to worry that Squall had been hurt somewhere but was afraid of moving the other if that was the case. It would be bad if he accidently hurt the brunette more while trying to help him.

"...Seifer..." The blond blinked rather owlishly as Squall sighed out his name and relaxed, his frown disappearing only to be replaced by a slight smile. Seifer suddenly had thoughts of squealing, a lot like Selphie would do, about how cute Squall looked right then but manfully refrained. He had enough problems as it was, he didn't need to start questioning his manliness as well or he might just have a meltdown.

The cell shook, telling Seifer that D-District had finally stopped submerging. He frowned, would Squall and his merry crew be able to escape? Seifer almost face-palmed, of _course_ they would be able to escape, this was Squall he was thinking about, the brunette was as stubborn as a Mule and he never gave up if he could help it.

They would be fine.

There was a knock at the cell door and Seifer very nearly began to panic but he put on is best cocky smirk and pressed the button for the door to open, standing before him was small, plumpish...thing called a man. The Warden smirked sickly at the prone form Squall and saluted the blond.

"Sir, the Lady Sorceress has new orders for you. She wishes for you to order the Missile Base to fire at Trabia and Balamb Garden." Seifer never thought he could feel so cold, he was sure his heart had stopped too. Showing no sign of how he was truly feeling, he nodded to the Warden, shooing him away before he actually killed the man for staring at Squall like he was nothing more than the dirt under his shoe.

Edea wanted him to destroy Garden? Balamb he could understand but why Trabia? They had no part in her attempted assassination, in fact he was fairly certain that they didn't even know there was a Sorceress. Seifer sighed, feeling more and more like a piece of crap. And now Edea was going to make him a murderer too.

Life was just great.

Giving a imploring look to Squall, like he was telling him to wake up, kick his ass and literally save the world, Seifer left the cell, knowing at least that Squall would survive and that was all he needed to know...

A/N; Aaaaaand that's a wrap! *click* Hehe, I've always wanted to say that XD anyway, what do you think? Was it good? Bad? Ugly? Absolutely terrible? Let me know by reviewing! Reviews make all warm and fuzzy 3


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: So, yeah. Threw a penny into a wishing well and made a wish that I owned FF8...Still waiting for it to happen though.

Warnings; Oily, mucky ladders. THE WEIRDY WITCH! Possessed Edea. Flying battle fortress Galbadia Garden. Hints of Missile Base. Hints of Balamb.

A/N; ...O...M...G... YAY CHAPTER TEN! LIKE YEEEEEAAAAAH! PARRRRRRRRTAH! *finishes dancing around* Wow! *holds up award* Like I want to thank my mom for encouraging me. And I want to thank my brother for getting me into Final Fantasy. And I want to thank everyone who is following this story and have reviewed. You have kept me on the straight and narrow, kept me up until ungodly hours so I could finish a chapter and most of all, made me feel all warm inside!

Yeah, nothing going on much 'ere. Just a filler. I wanted to do a chapter where G-Garden learns to spread its steely wings and fly. The next chapter might be more productive. But I'm not going to say what just in case there's a change of plans. Oh and I have to apologize for the spelling mistakes in Chp nine. SO SORRY! I thought I got them all.

ENJOY!

Seifer decided he really hated ladders.

They were annoying, squeaky, and _ugh _was that oil or something else entirely? He desperately hoped it was oil, he could live with that, if it was something else like monster droppings then he might just end up washing his hands until the soap pump ran out and then maybe a few times more. Sighing in relief when the ladder finally ended, he stepped onto the slightly rusted metal floor, glaring at the spots of blackish goo littering the floor. He had no idea why Edea sent him to the MD level of G-Garden, he didn't even know that there was a floor between the levels, it seemed practically impossible because unlike Balamb, Galbadia didn't have a lift where there was a large gap between floor 1 and floor 2. But he couldn't _really_ complain, Edea had been in a malicious mood lately, often then not several commanding officers of the army had been dragged from her chamber, bloodied and bruised.

She seemed to know that he had helped Squall and she hadn't been pleased. He was sure it was a miracle he was alive after the amount of magic she had pulsed through his body, it had been pure agony, he would have rather been stabbed by Squall's gunblade repeatedly than tortured by Edea. His only consolation, if that, was the strange dreams that been occuring. They always happened at random intervals and were of the same thing, him and Squall within the Orphanage with the faceless woman known as Matron. He always seemed to get the same feeling of safety, the sense of _home_ within the dreams, especially around Squall, the brunette seemed so frail and lonely in the dreams that when he woke up, he felt like gathering Squall up in his arms and never letting him go.

Groaning aloud, he glanced at the bottom of his shoe, watching as the thick black sludge dripped from it, the god damn Sorceress better be grateful of her stupid powers or he would have killed her by now. He walked into a small room, noticing the big metal wheel waiting for him, it was old and mostly rusted, he would be lucky if he could turn stepped up to the wheel and gripped it hard, feeling how worn it was. The first few attempts to turn it was a total failure, it refused to budge.

He sighed in irrtation, he was down in a Hyne knows where tunnel filled with Hyne forsaken oil that smelt truly like Marlboro breath with no way out, all to find a stupid control panel that _might not work_.

His life really did suck.

Taking a deep breath, he grabbed the wheel and put all his brawn into turning it, it didn't move for about a second before giving in and turning. He wondred briefly if Balamb had something like this then shook his head, even if the Garden did have something like this hidden away, it wouldn't be much good now. Balamb Garden was nothing more than a hole in the ground now, just like Trabia.

Storming from the room, he nearly fell down a large hole in the floor that definitely wasn't there before. Looking round, he found a very small walkway that lead to a _oh Hyne be damned_ ladder. Feeling his irritation grow to an angry throbbing in his temples, he climbed down the even stickier, slippery ladder, praying to everything he probably didn't believe in that if he survived this, he never had to see another ladder again.

Reaching the bottom after a gruelling five minute climb down, he found himself on another walkway, luckily this one didn't have any ladders, that he could see anyway. Sighing in relief, he walked down the steps, hearing his footsteps echo round the large room. It was larger than the Training Centre, when the walkway finished there was a small circular plate of flooring before it lead off to another walkway that_ then_ lead to a large control panel. Most of the room was taken up machinery; wires wound their way along the rooms, connecting the large ball like gears to the control panel which looked old, very old, at least twenty to thirty years old, maybe more. Seifer doubted if it still worked but the Sorceress wanted him to find it and get it working and that was what he was going to do. If he didn't do it willingly, Ultimecia would make him to do it.

He stepped up to the control panel, giving it a slightly wary glance. What did it do? Did it blow the Garden up? Allow it to grow legs and walk? Well, if Edea was intrested in it then it must do something good. Looking over the controls he realized he should have took more intrest in ancient languages. It was covered in symbols that looked more random squiggles than a language but it did look familier. Frowning he took a closer look, trying to see where one squiggly symbol ended and where the other began. After a few minutes of brain breaking translating, he realized they were more or less instructions...

He never was good at following instructions, his four attempts and the SeeD exam proved that.

The language was old Centra, a forgotten way of life that maybe the Shumi still used. After the Lunar Cry destroyed the villages on the Centra continent, the language faded until everyone near enough forgot about it. It wasn't uncommon for buildings to still have the old Centra machinery but even this was surprising. Seifer would never have guessed that Garden had this sort of technology.

Seifer followed the instructions as best as he could. He was a little rusty, he never paid much attention in Languages, finding it boring. He wanted to become a mercenary, not a linguist. He pressed certain buttons, not really all that sure that they were the right buttons.

After the last button was pressed, he plled the creaky lever to the left of him, watching as nothing happened. He felt his ire rise again and decided that hitting the control panel wouldn't be a bad idea. He bashed the centre orb like screen, jumping out of his skin when the machinery shuddered, before sharp jolts of electricity shot along the wires at the large ball shaped gears started to move, slowly getting faster and faster until the platform suddenly began to move upwards, nearly knocking Seifer off his feet.

The ceiling was getting closer and closer, Seifer was actually thinking of jumping off the platform when the ceiling began to glow and the platform passed right through it. Seifer watched as shocked students gaped in awe as he shot high above them and through the floors. He was a little surprised to find Edea standing on the platform when he passed through another floor. She stood there calmly, a sinister smirk on her lips as the platform finally stopped rising and came to a halt.

Seifer once again watched as the glowing ring above the Garden began to turn, sweeping up dust from the desert like land around them. It slowly lowered, doing the same as the platform and it passed through walls and floors. He looked over the edge, not wanting to miss anything. This was spectacular, who knew that Garden could do this?

The ring stopped at the bottom, near enough sinking into the ground before it tilted upwards on one side and then the whole building shook, like the was an earthquake going. Garden didn't seem to be doing much for a few minutes and then Seifer spotted something, they were slightly out of place on the floor, like they had moved about alf an inch which slowly began to get bigger and bigger until he saw nothing but sea.

Garden was flying!

"Exciting isn't it, boy?" Seifer glanced at Edea who watched him intently with some unknown emotion glittering in her amber gaze. He nodded his head, shuddering slightly at the smile that came to her lips. She walked towards the control panel, pressing a couple of buttons. The Garden made a humming noise before it began to turn and they slowly passed the mountains by Dollet. Seifer realized that they were heading for Balamb town.

"I have an order for you, boy. Call your lackies and then I want you to search Balamb for Ellone. Burn it to the ground if you have to." With that Edea floated to the edge of the platform, walking down the glowing stairs that appeared. Seifer felt cold and he rubbed at his arm, trying to warm the frigid skin. He took a deep breath and followed after Edea. Fuujin would understand, Raijin would follow Fuu so he had nothing to really worry about...But burn Balamb to the ground? Why? It was just an innocent town like Trabia.

He could search for Ellone, he could go back to Balamb after what he had done even if they didn't know, but what he couldn't do was burn it to the ground. He just couldn't.

Balamb was his home...

A/N; oooooh. I am so tired of ladders! They're everywhere! AH! *goes and hides* So like, I hope you liked my MD level for G-Garden. No monsters but then I'm rubbish at describing battles. Sooooorry! Please R&R. Me go sleepies under my rock now. ^-^


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer;...Still waiting...

Warnings; Hints of Edea, hints of the weirdy witch. Sad Seifer. Squall being adorable. Hints of Fuujin and Raijin and the Balamb mission. OH! and in this chapter Ultimecia is known as 'she'.

A/N: Ahey hey. Chapter 11. I'm still going strong! Nothing to say really, only that I kind of like this chapter. I mean I like all of my chapters but I kind of like this one more. Anyway. I have decided to seperate Ultimecia and Edea because well it got a little confusing. One moment I writing about Edea controlling Seifer and then it was Ultimecia so I have sorted that out. I was beginning to confuse myself ¬.¬ A teeeeeeeeeeeeeny bit of fluff though. Like really, really small but it's there PROMISE!

!ENJOYIES!

Seifer walked down the dark streets of Balamb, trying to stick to the shadows the best he could. He didn't want to be caught by the night-owls, the word had spread about him being the Sorceress's knight and they weren't pleased. He was surprised there was no 'wanted' posters hanging on the walls and street-lamps, offering a reward for who-ever brought him back dead or alive. He couldn't blame them of course, who would believe him anyways?

It's not like he could just walk up to them and say that he was being controlled by the Sorceress, which he was, just not by Edea. Yeah, he had figured it out. It would be hard to constantly brainwash two people into doing your bidding, hence why he mostly had his own mind. It was a shame that while he had control over his own mind, he still had no choice but to do as 'she' ordered, it was either do as 'she' said or get totured and he had enough of that to last a life time.

Ducking into an alley way, he held his breath as two policemen walked passed, drunk obviously. It was a friday and the G-Army had long since left, hovering a little off shore behind the mountains that held the Fire Cavern. They were waiting for him, thinking he was slyly trying to gather further information from the freed people. Which he was not, he was just trying to relax. Edea, or 'she' had given him some time off, she had said that it would take a few days to get her new plans into action. 'She' wanted to go to Centra, to investigate an old tower by the rocky mountains. Something about a hidden GF waiting to serve her but it would take a few days to reach it and blah blah blah. He had tuned her out after that and soon left G-Garden for a midnight stroll.

But he was beginning to regret it, he hated sneaking around when he knew he had no true control over what he was doing, he was just a pawn on the chessboard, useful but expendable, he could be easily replaced and no one would miss him. He sighed deeply, realizing his restless feet had lead him to the docks. The moon had broken free of the clouds and shined its cold beams down on the sea, the waves matching his turmoil.

He flopped himself down on the edge, his heavy boots missing the waves by inches. How easy it would be to just slip off the edge and let cruel, freezing water to take away his troubles. How easy it would be to let someone else handle this horror but he knew he couldn't, even if Squall never forgave him, he couldn't let someone else suffer the pain he had gone through, the feelings of absolute loathing for yourself as you took an innocent life for no reason except that 'she' had ordered it of you. Best to take the person's life quickly then to leave them to the merciless cruelty of 'her'.

He looked over the horizen, seeing Balamb Garden sitting on Rinaul Coast, obviously waiting for Squall and the others to come back. The last he heard they were going back to Zell's for some of Ma Dincht's roasted fish. Seifer groaned, what he wouldn't give for some of that. G-Garden cafeteria had terrible food and no hotdogs. He wondered what Zell would do if Balamb refused to serve hotdogs. The blond would probably have a nervous breakdown.

Snickering at the thought, he failed to hear the heavy crunch of footsfalls behind him. He only realized his mistake was the cool feel of sharp metal touched his throat, the blade teasing his skin in a unspoken threat. But then, just as quickly as it came, the sword was gone and there was a dark, kill-you-with-one-look glare burning into his skull and Seifer almost breathed out a sigh of relief. There was only one person who could produce a glare that deadly.

"Squall."

"..." Said brunette dropped his gunblade and sat next to the blond, refusing to look at him. Seifer watched him from the corner of his eye, a little confused. He had tried to kill Squall in Deiling city, okay so he wasn't in his own mind but still... He had tortured him in D-District, it had practically killed him inside to do it, even if he wasn't in control of his mind and body, it was something 'she' had found humorous to watch.

"How are Fuujin and Raijin?" Seifer blinked, Squall was showing concern! Dear Hyne they were all doomed to destruction. His shock must have showed because Squall scowled, his brows furrowing in a small show of defensive embarrassment. Still, it would be best if Seifer answered, Squall gunblade was lying a few inches behind them and as Squall showed multiple times, the brunette was fast.

"Fine, they're probably terrorizing Galbadia students by now...How are the others?" Squall shrugged out an answer, obviously not bothered about his new friends. At Seifer's pointed look, he muttered out an answer though it was a little unwilling.

"Okay, Quistis is blowing a bloodvessel about you being in league with the Sorceress..."

"I bet her and Xu are conspiring to have me beheaded, right?" It was meant to be a joke but even to his own ears it sounded rather depressing. Squall didn't look all that amused either and before Seifer knew it, Squall had raised his fist and hit him, rather hard too. His jaw was throbbing angrily, Squall had gotten stronger.

"Actually, Xu is trying to prove your innocence along with Selphie."

"No shit." Squall almost smiled at how incredilous Seifer sounded, like the blond brute couldn't see them ever trying to save his life. He nodded his head, smiling when he heard Seifer whistle, a quiet sound that soon disappeared into the cool breeze coming from the sea.

"...How are you, Squall?" He knew it was a bad idea to ask the moment he thought about it. Squall was stubborn and independant, he hated the thought of people needing him, worrying about him. They had no reason too, he was just fine on his own. Seifer waited for an answer but after a few minutes of silence he gave up. Squall suddenly snorted.

"I should be asking you that." Seifer sighed.

"Alright, I'll answer your question, if you answer mine?"

Squall looked like he had been slapped in the face. Seifer couldn't blame him, it was such a childish thing to say but it was the only way to get Squall to be compliant. It was either that or sparring, the brunette was quite talkative after a spar. Seifer put it down to an adrenaline rush. They stared at each for a few moments before Squall gave in, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I'm fine..."

"Then so am I..." Seifer wanted to slap himself for saying something so cheesy but he couldn't because it was true. As long as Squall was in one piece and alive then he could handle whatever 'she' threw at him. It was quiet again, the only sound was the waves crashing against the dock. They seemed content just sit there, Seifer trying to forget about the Sorceress controlling him and Squall trying to figure out what he could do to help the blond from the Hell he was obviously in.

It was futile for both of them, Seifer's mind just wouldn't switch off, constantly worrying. What if 'she' possessed his mind while Squall was sitting right next to him? The other gunblader had been hurt enough by him. He was amazed Squall was sitting next him. And Squll had more pressing matters on his mind, not that saving Seier wasn't important but...

"Seifer?" Seifer opened his eyes, briefly wondering when he had closed them but he had little chance to ponder about it. Squall face was just inches away, if he leant forward a little he could easily capture those suddenly tempting lips with his own but Squall looked serious like he had a giant ultimatum, his eyes a steely grey in the moonlight.

"Yeah?"

Squall looked at him for a little longer before he slumped forward, surprising Seifer enough to knock him backwards. Seifer blinked up at the sky, feeling every muscle in his body relaxing like he had nothing to worry about. His arm automatically moving to wrap round Squall's shoulders. This was too weird and he wondered if he was dreaming but Squall's next words proved that wasn't the case.

"How do I get rid of Rinoa?"

It seemed like a life time since Seifer had laughed that hard.

A/N; aw cute! But seriously, how do you get rid of Rinoa? I mean the only way I can get rid of her is if I don't have her in my party. Why couldn't she just stay FH or something, the game would be way better. And yes, the GF I was talking about is Odin. Personally I like Odin but I haven't got him yet, instead I ran around like a lunatic, defeating Tonberries so I could get the Tonberry King which I named Toto XD. Anyway, Read and Review. I have to go and play FF8 now, I've been so busy writing that I forgot to get ahead in the game XD so now this story is ahead of the game lol which means I now got to go to Trabia, boo.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer; Yeah, still don't own it people.

Warnings; Tonberry felling DX THE WEIRDY WITCH. Possessed Edea. Cute baby Tonberry. Maybe Ooc Seifer. Hints of Rinoa bashing.

A/N; Heeeeeeeey, peeps. I actually didn't know what to do with this chapter :( so I just let my imagination run wild...Probably not the best thing to do but I think it turned out pretty well! Ugh I adore FF8 to pieces but when it's your twentieth time playing it, the talking just gets on my nerves, like I know what I'm doing thanks. Still the only bit I'm not looking forward to is the bit when you're flying through the air on that Galbadia thing and you have to defeat the soldier. THAT I could live without ¬.¬ Anyway Please Read and Review!

ENJOYIES!

* * *

Seifer felled another Tonberry, wincing when it let out a little cute but heartwrenching mew before it disappeared. Why did he have to kill such unbelievably cute things? He hated it, he also hated the fact that deep inside he was just a big softy, seriously, he was suppose be a mercenary, not...Selphie! He shivered when he felt a protect spell, slither across his skin, Edea was casting defensive and offensive spells near constantly, keeping him in top form for fighting. Usually this wouldn't have bothered him but there was something about her magic that made him feel...dirty. He just didn't like it, it was like a parasite, slithering over his skin before it began to bury its way inside him. He really did hate it, he hated _her_. He could never truly hate Edea because she was being controlled too, it must be horrible having _her_ in your mind constantly and never having the chance to have your own body to yourself.

He knew he should count his blessings, Ulti-_she_ hadn't seem to bother with controlling him, _she _obviously thought he wasn't going to do anything to disrupt her plans which was about right, it felt nice to have his mind to himself. That wasn't counting the dreams of course but still, his thoughts were his own and he could freely daydre-think about Squall who was sailing the seas in his battle fortress. Such a lucky guy.

Yeah, that was total sarcasm but then he didn't have to live with a over obnoxious and slightly dim witted Rinoa so he had no idea how the brunette was coping. For all he knew, Squall had already maimed her, and no, he wasn't praying for that to happen...

Okay, so he was a little but Rinoa in all her pretty and yet stupid glory was relentless and if what Squall had been not-whining about then she had already set her sights on the brunette. Poor Squall had no idea what he was getting himself into! So Seifer couldn't help but hope that Squall could hold out long enough for Rinoa to finally catch on that the brunette wasn't intrested.

He wasn't betting anything though because he knew, just _knew_ Squall would cave eventually, every man did. Him included. Sure Rinoa was pretty and she had a good sense of justice but that was where intelligence let her down, she ran head first into battle, never seeing the faults in her plans and Zone and Watts didn't help either. And Seifer was _really_ regretting introducing her to Cid...

"Focus, boy!" Seifer grunted with the force that a Tonberry had hit him with, falling to one knee as his chest burned. The little green creature blinked at him with large button like eyes. Just staring at him and then (cutely) tilting its head to the side, waving its lantern in front of him. Seifer felt the fiery burning in his chest ease before fading to a dull ache. The Tonberry blinked once more before scuttling off, dodging Edea's spells. Edea scowled and went to cast Curaga but Seifer waved his hand and stood, picking Hyperion up from the ground.

They moved on and this time Edea was up front, casting Firaga and Thundaga at every little Tonberry they saw. The spells didn't do much good against the green creatures but it was enough to scare them to stay away. Something Seifer was glad for, he didn't think he could take hearing another mew of distress before the creature died.

Seifer climbed the rickety stairs, not trusting the glowing rails enough to use them. They reminded him of the stairs in G-Garden and he didn't trust them either. The tower was just creepy as Hell. Outside there was what looked like bits of wooden supports just floating around, so he was a little untrusting of the building. There was a chance that it could all collaspe at any moment and he would be squished to death before he had a chance to taste sweet, sweet freedom.

_It would be nicer if I could taste a certain someone..BAD THOUGHTS! Bad, bad, bad! Squall would send you the glare of doom that makes him look like an adorable bristling kitten for sure...Good thoughts. No. Bad, bad, bad!_ Seifer shook his head, trying without much success to rid himself of the image of Squall glaring at him and looking very much like a surprised cat. It was a luring image for sure and one that he was going to remember for the rest of his wicked life but if Squall saw him now, he would be dead or at least mildly freaked out. It wasn't every day that you saw a 6 foot odd man daydreaming over another guy while in the prescence of a powerful sorceress who was being controlled by another powerful sorceress. He was one brave son of a bitch and Seifer thought he deserved a medal for surviving this long and keeping his not so healthy fatuation with Squall in the dark because he didn't doubt a living soul that if Ulti-_she_ ever found out, then he was sure _she_ would control him a lot more then _she_ was.

Reaching the top of the Tower, Seifer decided to have a break. His legs were killing him and his shoulder was beginning to hurt from the heavy swings of Hyperion he had been doing. Felling Tonberries wasn't the most easiest thing to do in the world, their high defenses made it hard for both weapons and magic to cause a lot of damage.

Edea looked round, ignoring him for the most part, seeming to be more intrested in the glowing parts of the buildings.

"Stay here, boy." Seifer nodded while Edea floated off up some more stairs and disappeared from sight. She left him to look round the gloomy surroundings, he wished he could just go back to Balamb and watch the waves, or better yet, return to Balamb Garden and watch the new Commander in action. He vaguely pondered how many woman Squall had upset with his cold, cold ways. But then again, most of the female community would probably be standing outside his dorm room door with banners and cheering.

Fangirls were always a pain in the ass to live with.

And poor old Squall had it all coming. Seifer knew the brunette would absolutely hate the attention and he wondered how long the other would stand with it before he committed mass murder, or better yet how long could Seifer stand knowing that Squall would be having all those women fawning over him and the blond wasn't there to hug the brunette close and growl _'Mine.'_

Seifer groaned when he felt his possessive jealousy rise its very, very unattractive head. He really shouldn't be feeling jealousy, Squall was his friend and a dear one at that. If Squall ever found out that Seifer loathed it when a woman hugged his arm, or how he could claw Quistis's eyes out when she batted her lashes at him. Squall would hack him apart for sure and then there would be no more Seifer Almasy.

"Mew, mew?" Seifer blinked and looked down to see a small Tonberry sitting by his feet, gazing at him with what looked like adoration, its black eyes seemed wide and very cute.

Seifer thought about kicking it away but his side that loved all thing cute and semi-fluffy told him that if he did that, he was going to regret it for the rest his life. So he just raised a brow at the creature, holding back chuckle when its features lightened and it gave off a feeling of happiness.

Seifer knew he was going to be stuck with it for the rest of his life.

The Tonberry hugged his leg, mewing as it did. Now Seifer had an ultimatum, if Edea found it, then the poor little thing would be dead, but he couldn't exactly stuff the thing up his top and hope she wouldn't notice. Ugh, he was so going to regret this. Looking round to make sure Edea wouldn't just pop up suddenly, he gave the green creature a serious look.

"Okay, this is how we'll do this. Outside of this place there are two cars, don't even think about going near the fancy one, but the one next to it is mine. I don't like having guards round me so it should be empty, go and hide there. Wait, do you have a name?"

"Meeeew."

Right, it was a creature. Of course it's not going to say 'oh yes, why my name is Bob.' Seifer could have face-palmed but thought better of it, time was wearing thin and Edea would be back at any moment.

"Well, I'll call you...Kobo. C'mon, off with you. She'll be back at any moment, now go." Kobo blinked and then slowly tilted its head in what looked like a nod before shuffling off towards the exit just disappearing from sight as Edea came storming down the stairs.

She took one look at him and sent a Thundara at him. Seifer hit the floor, biting the inside of his cheek to stop the cry of pain as every nerve twitched, electricity shooting all over his body. Hyne, that hurt. Edea snarled for him to get up and he did, albeit a little slowly. If his body wasn't hurting before it definitely was now. He followed after Edea, somewhat hesitantly asking what was the matter.

"They are gone! Both of them! Someone has been here before us...Grr, curse those blasted SeeD!" Seifer gathered Edea was shouting about the two GF's she had been gleefully muttering about for the past few days since they had left Balamb Town.

He couldn't help the smile twitching at his lips, obviously Squall had been here and had gained the GF's trust, slowing _Her_ down a little though it would be a little. _She_ was determind to win this war _she_ had created and no one was going to stop _her_.

The cars came into view. Edea's grand vehicle was painted a dark crimson with black metal work. There was two soldiers waiting for her, they scrambled to open the door for her but she was no longer in a pleasant mood and sent a vicious Fira at both of them, grinning cruelly at their screams of pain. But they soon stood from the ground and lumbered towards the front of the car and getting in, starting the engine.

Seifer climbed into his own, leaning back in the drivers seat, taking a moment to gather himself. He opened the glove box and pulled out a potion he had sneakily hid there, knowing that Edea was going to send a spell his way at some point. Gulping it down he nearly choked on it when his new friend appeared by his head with a excited mewl of delight.

Kobo let out a sound that suspiciously sounded like it giggling, its black eyes twinkling joyfully. Seifer glared at the little critter and rolled his eyes, strapping himself in and starting the engine to follow after the sorceress who had left a while ago. Kobo sat in the passenger seat, staring out of the windshield, a look of pure awe plastered on its green round face.

Seifer drove for a while before his paranoia got the best of him, and he slowed the car to a stop and leaned over, pulling seatbelt down and strapped the Tonberry in. Kobo looked at him curiously, letting out a squeak of question. He didn't answer, just started the car and carried on driving.

Fuujin was waiting for him in the garage, her one red eye calculating as she gave him a once over, noticing the singed edges of his trench coat from where he had been electrocute. She went poke him the chest and question him on what happened but she came unstuck when suddenly there was a little war cry from the car and she found a Tonberry stuck to the side of her head, chewing on her hair.

Seifer tried, he really, really did but it was too hilarious and he burst out into fits of laughter that made him double over while Fuujin wrestled to get Kobo off of her. Kobo was having none of it and only gripped on tighter, a little squeaky growl escaping its throat, though all harmful intent left the creature when it realized that Fuujin's hair was rather tasty and instead it tried to eat her.

Seifer meanwhile was crumpled up on the floor, everytime he managed to collect himself to get up, all he had to do was look up and he was back on the floor, laughing.

Fuujin scowled and gave Seifer swift kick to the head, glaring down at the blonde who chuckled while groaning in pain. Fuujin must have been angry because she spoke more than one word "Stop laughing and get this thing off of me..._NOW!_" Seifer quickly got to his feet and peeled Kobo off of Fuujin. Kobo mewled and climbed out of his arms to make himself comfy on top of his head, looking innocently at Fuujin.

Seifer kept having bouts of giggles as he walked through Garden, ignoring students incredilous gazes. He wasn't worried about them running to Edea to tell her about his new pet because they didn't like her all that much and was too terrified to even breathe her name. Kobo was safe, for now.

"Stop that." Seifer swatted half heartedly at Kobo who seemed to like the taste of his hair gel. Fuujin huffed to cover a snicker but failed as Seifer gave her a punch to the arm. It didn't affect the woman and she punched in the door code to Seifer's room. Raijin was lounging on his couch and actually screamed like banshee when Kobo tried to jump him and leapt from the couch. The tanned man pulled out a knife and waved it dangerously at Kobo.

Seifer scowled and plucked Kobo up off the couch, placing him back on top of his head while giving Raijin a pointed look. "Don't you dare harm Kobo."

Raijin blinked, his eyes going wide. "K-kobo? You named it! Seriously, dude it's a Tonberry." He exclaimed, as if that explained everything. Seifer went to argue back but Fuujin beat him to it when she came back from the little kitchen with a bowl in her hands, she put it down on the floor and pointed to eat while gazing determindly at Kobo.

"EAT!" Kobo did as its told and climbed down from its position on Seifer head to chomp at the food in the bowl happily.

"Wow, he's really hungry, y'know." Raijin sat back down on the couch, watching it eat the food like a rabid dog. Seifer sat next to him and nodded his head, trying without much success to right his hair now that most of it was covered in slobber.

"He's kind of small for a Tonberry, don't you think?"

"INFANT!"

"So, like are you saying that he thinks Seifer is his dad?"

"YES!" Raijin gave Seifer a sympathetic look to which Seifer glared and whacked the darker man upside the head before frowning. He couldn't look after Kobo, he was way too busy and if Edea found out, Kobo would be killed on sight and he quite loved his hair nibbling friend.

"Say, Fuu, could you look after Kobo while I'm gone?"

"AFFIRMATIVE!"

"Thanks, you're a life saver." Fuujin opened her mouth to say something but found herself being tackled by Kobo who seemed to like sticking itself to the side of her head and chomping at her hair. Seifer hummed under his breath while absently stamping his foot down on Raijin's to shut the man up. He didn't need Rai's blood splattered all over his room. Fuujin tugged at Kobo, trying to dislodge the creature.

It wasn't working.

Seifer decided that now would be a good idea to share his infinite wisdom. "Y'know, I think that's his way of showing gratitude."

By the glare Fuujin was sending him, his knowledge wasn't appreciated...

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A/N; KYAAA I WANT A CUTE BABY TONBERRY!...Ahem, anyway. The next chapter will be of the battle between Gardens and probably be in Squall's POV, not actually sure about the POV though... Aw man, I love Kobo! XD Still it kind of raises the question of why Glabadia Garden is by the Orphanage, it has no real reason to be there unless it's waiting for Squal but still...Sounds suspicious. Anyway, R&R and tell me what you think, do you like Kobo or not? Let me know!


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer:...Look, it's still obvious I don't own it because Rinoa is still in the game :(

Warnings; Quiet, broody, slight insecure(but you have to squint) Squall. Slight Quistis bashing. Rinoa bashing. Very slight Ellone bashing. The Weirdy Witch, aka Ultimecia. Hins of Squall being a Sorcerer, 'cos he's special! XD Tiny hints of Zell/Quistis but it is very tiny...

A/N;...I. Am. So. Soooooooooorry. *hides under rock* I just have been so busy that I kind of forgot about this chapter. But you can freely throw tomatoes at my sister if you want, I seriously won't mind, *dangles Sister in front you* ^.^ Anyway, this chapter seems full of warnings and I think thats a good thing. So I'll shut up and let you read, R&R and tell me what you think. *falls asleep* mmmm cookies.

ENJOY!

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Galbadia-Garden had fallen...

Balamb had won the fight against the Sorceress Edea and halted her control over the students who were now free to choose how they lived their lives. Of course there was the die-hard fans of Edea and they were now running from Balamb Garden to which Xu had all resources trying to find them. But like everything else, it would take time.

Squall sat in the cafeteria, ignoring Quistis's stern gaze, one he understood easily. She was wondering why he hadn't visited the Infimary yet to see how Rinoa was. To be honest he was trying to enjoy the peace and quiet for a little while. It had been a true test of his patience having Rinoa constantly hanging off his arm, batting her lashes and twirling her hair. If there was ever a time he wanted Seifer to save it would have been then.

He always prided himself on his ability to survive everything on his own, the mantra he had always told himself when he was little still rang in his head but it oddly went quiet when Seifer was near him, like in a subconscious way, he knew he could depend on Seifer to take care of him which was totally ridiculous as Squall could look after himself. That also brought him back to his current problem, he had figured out his feelings for the blond gunblader back in Deiling, he thought he could ignore them and they would eventually disappear but instead, his feeling had grown stronger. It had been frustrating him beyond belief and often than not, he ended up Blizzaga-ing something, which considering he didn't have any Ice magic Junctioned concerned him. Dr Kadowaki had told him not to ponder about it, that he should think of it as a gift, but surely him being able to summon magic that wasn't Junctioned would suggest he was a Sorcerer and weren't they in a war with a Sorceress?

Sighing, Squall rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the familier tingle of magic along his fingers. Quistis watched with a critical eye, questions bubbling within her blue depths. She wanted to desperately ask about what was bothering him, though she knew he wouldn't answer her anyway and instead storm off to the Training Centre to maim a few Grats. Squall never talked to them more than he had to, seeming to close himself off when they mention Seifer and his betrayel. On more than one occasion when Rinoa had been ranting about the blond, Quistis had noticed how Squall's eyes would burn bright with anger and how his posture went stiff but he remained quiet, never opening his mouth.

Which made her wonder what Squall really thought of Seifer, she had only known them to fight and end up in the infirmary or detention. Now would be an opportune moment to ask, the cafeteria was mostly empty and what students were there stood on the other side of the room. Taking a deep breath, Quistis solified her will against backing down and asked the question that had been bothering her since Timber.

"Squall, what do you think of Seifer working for the Sorceress?" Squall looked up, his expression was gaurded like he was fighting with himself, as if he had an appearance to keep up. Quistis scowled, why did he think he had to handle everything on his own? They were his friends! He shouldn't have to hide things from them. Giving him a stare that was worthy of Matron, she conveyed that if he even dared to lie, he would get Micro Missiled. And that really did hurt.

"Squall, answer me sincerely." Squall sighed, feeling as if the whole gang was...well, ganging up on him.

"I...don't think anything of it. If Xu is correct then Seifer had no choice..."

"That doesn't answer my...Squall where are you going?" Standing from her seat, Quistis watched as Squall fled the cafeteria, his head bowed as he passed awe-eyed students.

Squall quickly headed back to his newly assigned office, hoping to have some quality time to himself before Quistis came knocking with Selphie and Irvine to inquire more about his feeling on Seifer. He locked the door behind him before flopping down in the only chair available. The room was baron except for a desk, a chair and several boxes filled with Hyne knows what. Looking up at the ceiling, Squall fought the urge to storm into G-Garden and hunt down Seifer, he knew the blond was there, hiding until night fell so he could escape without hurting any innocent students. Considering all the bad Seifer had committed, he refused to fight people he could easily avoid...Unless _she_ was controlling him then fighting was inevitable...

Squall wouldn't mind some fighting right about now, actually.

Hearing the click of Quistis's boots as she headed towards his office through the wooden door, Squall tried to think a way out of whatever lecture the strawberry blond had geared up for him. It was nice to know he had someone watching his back, but it wasn't the person _he_ wanted to watch his back. Seifer was the only one who could understand what he wanted from just one glance, if Squall wanted to hit the left flank of a T-Rexaur, then Seifer would distract the fiend so Squall would have a good chance of doing some damage. They were a perfect team through and through, but the intructors saw it as an unhealthy rivalry. Please, the teachers wouldn't know what temawork was even if it bitch slapped them in the face.

Squall gave the door an unintrested glare as Quistis knocked precisely three times. He ignored it in favour of looking out the obscenely large window, the sky over Centra had grown dark, clouds threatening a heavy downpour and thunder storms. If there was one thing he hated more then Sorceress's, it was thunder storms.

He remembered the storms the Orphanage used to suffer through which also brought back memories of Ellone, he thought he would be saddened at remembering his Sis but was oddly annoyed by it, like he had no reason to be even knowing her. Slowly but surely, the memories of him and Seifer were coming back and he often liked to look back on the times he would let Seifer get away with mayhem.

"Squall? Open the door, we must talk about this." Squall rolled his eyes, watching as Quistis tried to turn the doorhandle. She was way too invasive of other people's personal lives and he wanted to tell her to mind her own business, because her business certainly wasn't with him. After a few more minutes of Quistis trying to get into his office, Squall decided that he would escape from her aggrivating lectures and opened the door, muttering that he was going to visit Rinoa and before Quistis could make a sound, the lift doors closed in her face.

However, Squall wasn't going to the Infirmary just on the off chance that Rinoa woke up and latched onto him like a leech, ready to suck the life from him. Instead he quickly made his way to the front gate, wanting to look over the once again grounded G-Garden. The booth near the gate was empty, the old man who usually took station there had been injured in the assult and Dr. Kadowaki refused to let him leave so he was on his own to think freely for a while.

Half of G-Garden ring was glowing from the earth, glittering off the darkened clouds. Xu was out there, searching for injured students that were unable to escape the conflict, so much fighting had happened in the past hours that Squall was still slightly buzzing from the adrenaline rush. His hands felt empty and his muscles wanted nothing more than to swing Punisher around, felling whatever got in his way, even if it was Quistis. Hyne, sometimes she could be more annoying than Rinoa.

"Y'know glaring at space isn't going to make whatever made you pissed go away.. whoa!" Squall stared bemused at a wide eyed Seifer who had snuck up on the brunette and nearly lost his head for it. Squall blinked a few times, realizing that Seifer was actually there. He holstered Punisher and moved into his standard pose; arms crossed over his chest, putting most of his weight on his one leg and looking slightly to the side. Seifer wondered if he had gone too far by sneaking up on the brunette when Squall made no sound or even breathed before something clicked in that over-analyzing brain that belonged to Squall Leonhart. He was surprised when the other gunblader suddenly grabbed him and dragged him away from the front gate, slamming him up the wall.

"Have you lost all sense! You're a wanted fugitive and you just stand there in front _of a military Garden_!" Squall hissed lowly, his cheeks flushing with frustration at the blonds poor attempts at hiding, or lack of. Seifer chuckled, petting Squall on the head, trying, and failing, to calm the other down. Squall really did remind him of a bristling cat.

"It's fine."

"No, it isn't! Hyne Seifer, nearly the whole world is after you. And while Xu is trying to get you cleared, I'm trying to stop Quistis from...Well, quizzing me!" Seifer glanced back owlishly, before rolling his eyes and clasping a hand over Squall's mouth to shut him up moaning. Squall glared a promised death at the action but stayed quiet while Seifer thought, Hyne knows it was a rare occurence of Seifer actually using his brain for once. A few minutes later Seifer snapped his fingers, though he didn't remove his other hand from Squall mouth. The brunette was very tempted to bite him but thought better of it, it would give the blond a reason to do something stupid.

"Just tell her to mind her own business." Squall slumped, wanting very much face-palm but instead decided to glare into the twinkling jade hues that was watching him intently and slap Seifer's hand away. Stepping away from the other gunblader, he looked round, making sure Quistis wasn't trying to find him.

"Don't you think I have?" At Seifer's raised brow and the pointed look on his face, Squall knew he couldn't get away with lying. Damn the blond for knowing him so well.

"Well, okay. I haven't told her to-"

"No, you just walk away. Leaving her to stew in her own curiosity; I never knew you were so sadistic, Squall." Seifer dodged the half hearted swipe of Squall's gunblade, knowing he had ran his clever fingers over Squall's easily irritated buttons...

Squall sighed, dropping his gunblade on the floor. It would be best if he left his only best friend alive. Even if said best friend was a royal pain in the ass.

"Why are you here, Seifer. Shouldn't you be, I don't know, trying to get away from us?"

Seifer laughed heartily, slapping Squall on the back. "Nah, I actually came here to talk to you."

"Whatever." That was Squall's way of asking 'why?' when he was being uncooperative. Seifer held back another chuckle, knowing that if he kept acting so cheery, he was going to get his ass kicked. Squall was not in the mood to be cheery it seemed.

"Well, you see..." _Just say it, he believed you when you told him about the voices in your head, he'll believe you now. _"The war isn't over, Squall. Edea was being controlled by another Sorceress." Seifer waited for Squall to say something, so he was more then surprised when he got punched rather hard. Was it him, or did Squall like hitting him for no apparent reason?

"You risked your life to tell me that!" Squall was 'not' shouting at his blond friend.

"Yeah, it was important...Ow! Stop hitting me!"

"No! Now go away before Quistis finds you and arrests you." At Seifer's doubting face, Squall gave him another less harmful swat and pointed to the ramp going down to the dry Centra land. Seifer narrowed his eyes but nodded all the same, he _did_ have a terrified baby Tonberry to look after and he knew Fuu wanted to keep some of her hair.

"Alright, I'm going. Fuujin is going to murder me anyways." Squall breathed out a sigh of relief as Seifer disappeared down the ramp without another word. The blond was seriously asking to get himself killed. Squall relaxed after a few minutes of staring at the space Seifer stood, knowing the blond had really left. He picked up his gunblade and slipped it back into its holster. Squall suddenly frowned when he realized his broody mood had disappeared when Seifer was around but now that the Hyperion wielder had gone, he could feel it creeping its way back.

Hyne damn the blond for making him feel better!

"Yo, Squall! What are you doing out here? It going to tip it down any minute!" Squall turned to see Zell running towards him, his blue eyes wide with shock that Squall was standing outside on his own when there could be enemies sneaking about. Zell opened his mouth to voice his thoughts when a small ball of fire flew past his head and an irate Squall stormed passed, muttering that Quistis should mind her own damn business and stay out of his way.

Zell blinked, watching as Squall disappeared back into Balamb Garden, too busy thinking to hear the loud rumble of thunder that warned that it was going to rain, when the rain did hit, it didn't start with a few drops, no, it poured it down, catching and soaking a bewildered Zell in the process. The blond boxer jumped out of his skin and groaned, looking down at his dripping wet clothes, wondering if he could get away with leaving water spots in the tiled hallways without a certain strawberry blond maiming him.

The sky rumbled again and Zell knew his luck just wasn't on his side that day.

"Aw, man. Quistis is gonna kill me.."

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A/N; Finished at loooooooooong last. For some reason this chapter was hard to start and write. Like I said at the start. I am very sorry this chapter took so long. There you go, Seifer is now, technically free of Edea but The Weirdy Witch is now becoming known. And! Rinoa is out the way, whoo, well for now anyway... Boo. Anyway, I am sorry if Seifer's appearence was a little sudden but I thought that, if he had the chance, he would warn Squall that the war hasn't ended with Edea. So there. I find Quistis a bit invading of peoples personal lives and it annoys me a little. Read and Review! It is muchly appreciated!


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer; I do not own any of the characters of FF8 but I do own Kobo, my little Tonberry friend so HA!

Warnings; Rinoa bashing,(which I seem to do a lot, sorry Rinoa fans)Very slight Quistis, Zell, Irvine and Selphie bashing but it is only very slight. The Weirdy Witch. Edea in her own mind. Kobo-alert. A teeny bit of Cid-bashing...

A/N: Heeeeeyies! I'm back on track, sort of *laughs nervously while eying PS1* Okay, so I haven't even completed disc two but I will, honest. Just when I have a day that I'm not busy writing ¬_¬ I can't believe I got chapter 14! *parties* but then I can't slack off, I've got loads of writing to do...And Oh I've got a sudden urge to watch FF7; Advent children. ANYWAY, (stay on track ESB!) I've got to update on my other stories so I'll try and keep this regular. Sorry, I've been up since 6am and I tell you now, I do not get up that early usually, so my brain's frying at this moment. So I'll shut up XD Don't forget to Review and tell me what you think, that's very important *nods head*

ENJOY!

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Seifer sneaked passed the front door to the Orphanage, trying not to get caught by the only two inhabitants. Fuujin was trying to get them a ride to Fisherman's Horizon where they would sneak along the train tracks and then head for Lunatic Pandora, as was his orders before Ultimecia escaped from Edea's body.

And while he didn't mind following the mad woman's orders, being sneaky just wasn't his style. Now bursting into the room and causing total anarchy, _that_ was more his style. It didn't take hours to plan, you just kicked the door down and swung your sword around like a proper nutcase. Easy.

Finding a small crop of land, Seifer flopped himself down for a well deserved rest. He winced when his jaw throbbed, reminding him that Squall really did have a mean left hook. He knew the other gunblader had been truly worried for him as his plan to tell Squall about Ultimecia wasn't the most well thought plan in the world. Still, he knew the mad Sorceress wasn't finished in her plan to dominate the world, why anyone would want to do that was lost on him. Sure having all the world bowing at your feet could be fun for a few days but then it would just get boring and you would be left, sitting on your throne probably having people totured beyond belief just for something to do.

Life was unusually boring in that prospect.

Looking up at the sky, he watched the clouds move along, the downpour had passed but he could tell there was still some rain left to come. He didn't mind the rain all that much, it was just water, what harm could it do? He never understood why people moaned about it, so you got wet, you went home, changed your clothes and bam! You were happy again. Though it wasn't very nice when gel ran into your eyes, that stung like a bitch.

Back to Squall, he was surprised that the brunette wasn't obsessing over Rinoa, whether Squall liked her or not, the fact that she was in coma was a little worrying. Seifer expected him to be sitting in the library trying to figure out what could be wrong with her, the fact that the other gunblade wielder hadn't even seen her shocked him to the core. Okay, so he had stalked Squall for a while before finally talking to him, but he couldn't help but see what Squall did when he wasn't fighting for the world. To say it was pretty much standard of Squall would be an understatement. He had expected the brunette to be barking out order left and right, trying to reign in the excited students, instead had seen a breathless Chicken-Wuss running around like the headless bird he was named after doing all the work. Selphie hadn't been helping all that much either, following the poor boxer around like an annoying fly, moaning about her Cowboy friend who obviously had the hots for her but kept flirting with every walking bit of skirt he saw, including Quistis and Rinoa. Though the Cowboy oddly stayed away from Xu, whether it was because the woman intimidated him, Seifer wasn't sure.

However, Seifer could tell Squall was having trouble adjusting to life of a Commander. Squall didn't mind fighting, or saving the world but dump him in an office with tons of paperwork and you had a lost little Lion. The brunette wasn't meant to be kept in a office, he was suppose to be roaming the continents, maiming whatever got in the way of his mission.

Seifer could see Squall quitting after all this war business was over just to get away from the paperwork of doom. And to get away from Rinoa, of course. Ah Rinoa, what would happen to her? Would she wake up from her coma? Or stay that way fo ever? He was sure Caraway wouldn't be very pleased. Seifer wasn't all that bothered about her but then he had never worked with her, only dated her for a few weeks and then finally realized how brainless she was in her quest to liberate Timber.

_I wonder what Squall's doing right this minute, is he sitting in his office, glaring at paper or is he suffering Quistis's never ending nagging? I wonder what Squall looks like when he's nagging...Damnit!_ Seifer rolled his eyes, trying to convince his mind to stay blank for a little while, he couldn't keep worrying about Squall, he needed to think of himself now. Ultimecia is probably watching him, reading his mind and seeing every dirty image he had thought up of the brunette, especially the one where he had 'accidently' walked into Squall's dorm room and found the brunette in just a towl. Squall had really blushed red, of course Seifer ended up in Infirmary with serious cuts but hey, it was bloody worth it!

"You know, you are doing a very poor job of hiding, Seifer." Seifer's skin crawled at the sound of the person behind him. He sat up slowly and turned to look at amber eyes. Edea stood behind him, her eyes clear of Ultimecia's control and filled with motherly love as she stared down at him. He coughed, feeling eleven years old again under that affectionate gaze. Edea giggled and walked closer, sitting gracefully next to him, looking out over the oddly calm sea considering there was suppose to be a bad storm heading this way.

"Matron?" Edea hummed, glancing at him thoughtfully, though there was hints of fear and regret in her eyes. He could tell she regretted the pain and suffering she had caused not only to him but most of the world as well. He went to open his mouth but what could he say? He knew Edea had no choice, no say in what happened, just like him. She had seen and experienced everything he had and maybe more so he said nothing and followed Edea's gaze and stared at the soothing waves.

"How is Squall and the others?" Edea asked calmly, shifting to sit more comfortably. She had spotted Seifer sneaking past and diverted Cid's attention until the man fell asleep. It wouldn't do for Cid to find out Seifer was hiding out near the Orphanage. Cid had never really liked Seifer, only felt pity for the boy who had behaviour problems.

"Squall's okay, Quistis is trying to be the mother of everyone and she keeps asking Squall private questions." Edea frowned, shaking her head in exasperation. Would Quistis never learn? Being bossy and trying to know every little thing about Squall wasn't the way to earn his friendship. The only reason Seifer and Squall had become such close friends was because Seifer never asked questions, he had always let Squall tell him things in his own time.

"And the others are the same. Selphie is still trying to reign in Irvine, and Zell still has an unhealthy obsession with hot-dogs." Edea laughed, shaking her head. Her children will never change, not even after all this time. Looking back at Seifer, she could tell something was troubling the blond so she put on the best motherly face she could and gave him the award winning Matron stare.

Seifer crumbled underneath that look like a bug under a shoe, he never could hide anything from Edea when she had the look in her eyes as if to say 'I know something's troubling you and if you don't tell me right this second, I'll move Squall into his own room.'

He had a seriously weak will for things related to the brunette, just like Squall loved his baggy jumpers. He swore to Hyne's name, Squall had nicked one of his shirts while they were in Garden.

"I...think I like Squall and-"

"You're in love with him." At the incredilous look on Seifer's face as he stuttered over his words to deny it, shaking his head and waving his arms around. Edea shifted closer and placed her hand on his shoulder, she gave it a comforting squeeze..

"It's okay to be in love, Seifer. How do yo think I have lived with Cid all these years?"

"But-"

"But nothing, young man. You and Squall have always been together, and you always will be. Seifer, when the time comes Squall will need you and only you. He has only ever needed you. Even when you two never got along, who was it that chased away Quistis and the others? Who looked for him when Ellone first went away? Who stood out in the pouring rain and freezing winds with him? You did, and you earned our little Lion's trust and you will always have it. Now and forever." Edea felt herself choking up as she reminded herself how close her two favourite boys had grown, it was her memories of her children that had kept her going while under Ultimecia's control. The insane witch had scoffed at the memories, saying that emotions were useless and her precious children were all going to die but Edea had ignored her and waited, waited for the moment she saw her children set her free so she could rub it into Ultimecia's face, which she did with a bright smug smile on her face.

Seifer went to argue when something Edea had said caught his attention and he frowned."What do you mean, 'Squall will need me.'?" Edea winced but gave Seifer a serious look.

"Seifer, Squall is special, very special. Y'know Ellone was taken by White SeeD?" At Seifer's nod, she breathed a sigh of relief and thank Hyne for not allowing Seifer to grow out of his inability to stay in his room when told.

"Ellone has a gift, a power that allows her to see into the past of someone she loved. I know she's been using it on all of you, it's something Ultimecia wants. Anyway, Squall is a Sorcerer. Now he's obviously a good one but I fear Quistis and the others will react badly to this news and turn their backs on him for a short while. And you know how Squall reacts to abandonment. He reacts so badly, so, so badly." Edea muttered at the end, more to herself then Seifer but the blond had gotten the gist of it. He could remember the time when Ultimecia had whispered things to him, how violent he had gotten. The day Squall had sent him a cross the room with a blizzard spell was a few of the really clear ones. Mind you, that isn't something you forget easily anyway. He had felt so guilty afterwards.

But Squall was a Sorcerer? That would account for the random Blizzard spells, though he wondered what Squall would do if he knew that he was one of Hyne's children, as were all Sorcerer's and Sorceress called. The brunette would probably snort and give anyone who called him that the glare-of-doom. Seifer always did like the glare-of-doom, mainly because it scared the Hell out of people and made them bow to Squall's will, except him. To Seifer, the glare-of-doom tickled. Squall's gunblade didn't tickle so much, that actually hurt but Seifer could live with a few cuts and grazes, unless Squall was in that I'll-kill-you-by doing-both mood, then he was screwed. Squall glare and his gunblade hurt like a bitch and he was often left in Dr. Kadowaki's care for a few days, ignoring her ramblings that he really shouldn't just walk into Squall dorm room, or throw food at him in the Cafeteria, or hastle him in class and in spars. Because no matter how good Seifer was in battle, when Squall was in a dangerous mood, you did not piss him off, unless you were some crazy assed Sorceress who wanted to take over the world, then you could.

Seifer would love to see Ultimecia's face when Squall went all out on her, oh the bloodshed. He could tell everybody right now that once Squall was done with her, there would only be veeeeeery tiny pieces left which made him smile with glee at the meer thought of it.

"What _are_ you thinking about Seifer?" The blond jumped and realized that Edea had been sitting there watching him intently as he frowned, and snickered silently to himself before grinning like a cheshire cat.

Seifer coughed, trying not rub the back of his head sheepishly. "Squall when he's in dangerous mood."

"Dangerous mood?"

"Hmm, there's been plenty of times I've ended up in the Infirmary for just talking to him... Oh that _really_ does remind me.." Edea blinked rather owlishly while Seifer searched through his pockets. Squall really did have a strange effect on the blond gunblader. Seifer let out a shout of triumph when he finally found Squall's Griever ring, he had been meaning to give it him back but then he got distracted and forgot until it was too late. Passing it to Edea, he watched the woman smiled at the memory of him begging her to buy it for him so he could give to Squall for his birthday.

"He forgot it when we met in Detention and I've kept hold it ever since. Everytime I mean to give back to him, I forget. So when he comes to see you, will you give it to him for me?"

Edea chuckled and put the ring back into Seifer's hand, shaking her head fondly. Knowing Seifer wasn't going to bring up his healthy infatuation with Squall again, though she knew he would accept it eventually, just like Squall would. "Seifer, Squall doesn't forget anything and he certainly hasn't forgotten that you have his most prized ring. If he hasn't asked for it back, then that means he wants you to have it until you no longer need it."

Seifer had never really thought of it like that, he was about to put the ring back in his pocket when a silver chain was dangled in front of him. Looking at Edea she just gave him one of her Matron looks and he took willingly. Slipping the ring onto the chain, he put the fairly loose chain round he neck and tied the clasp, tucking the ring under his vest so no one would see. Now he didn't have to worry about losing it and trying find Squall a new one, even though he was pretty sure the brunette would be able to tell.

Edea suddenly looked and smiled warmly. "Hello, Fuujin. How nice to finally meet you under normal circumstances." Fuujin shifted uncomfortably and did a quick salute to Edea, just to be polite.

"TRANSPORT. READY." Seifer nodded and finally stood, helping Edea up too. She thanked him sincerly and then pulled him into a motherly hug before pulling back and telling him to be careful, not to accept candy from strangers...

Seifer chuckled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the drill Matron. You take of yourself too."

Edea watched forlornly as Seifer walked away with Fuujin, possibly to his death. Taking a deep breath, she told herself that her children were strong, that they would be alright. She gave a startled yelp when something clutched onto her leg. Looking down, she found herself looking into large button like black eyes. Bending down she gave the baby Tonberry a pat on the head, frowning when her fingers brushed a piece of paper that was stuck inside the little hoodie the Tonberry was wearing. Picking it up she almost burst out laughing at what the note said.

_To Matron._

_Could you look after Kobo for me? He's really good but he keeps trying to eat Fuujin's hair and she's threatened to throw him out so... It's only until the war is over, promise..._

_Seifer._

Snickering to herself, she picked up the baby Tonberry and gave him a cuddle. Walking towards her house, she repeated her safety drill to Kobo.

What was one more child to look after?

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A/N;...Oookay, weird ending. Anyway, sorry if Seifer's a smidgen Ooc but I wanted this chapter to give people the fluffy feeling. And I know I haven't mentioned Squall's ring, so I cleared that up. I like Edea, I was well happy when you have her as an optional player while going through the Salt flats near Esthar. I always have her on my party for some reason, she's not particulary strong or anything but...I dunno. And it's offical, Squall is a Sorcerer! Yay! R&R and tell me what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer Bunny; ESB does not own FF8, and though she likes to daydream that she does, I must stress that she does not. But she does own a Griever Necklace, a Gunblade keyring and a copy of the game ^_^

Warnings Bunny: Rinoa(though she is unconscious) A travel crazy Fuujin. Confessions of the 'L' word. Hints of Kobo. Hints of the Weirdy Witch. Quistis-bashing, but justa teeny bit.

A/N: *hides behind rock from flying projectiles* I'm sooooooooooo sorry! I never meant it to be this late, I swear on the Flying Spaghetti Monster that I never meant to take this long!Honestly! I am really sorry. But in good news. I turned eighteen, whoo. and I got a new game, Resonance of Fate by Sega, ugh I hadn't even got past chapter one before I was pairing people up. *rubs neck sheepishly* That is how much Yaoi rules my life ¬.¬ Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I say again, I am really sorry for taking so long.

Ps: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, you have kept me going!

Enjoy!

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Seifer decided he was never, _ever_, going to travel to Esther again...

The journey was long and laborious, especially with a whining Raijin moaning down his ear twentyfour/seven. The tanned man was currently crawling after them as Fujin had given him a healthy kick to somewhere that was _very_ painful for a man. Fujin had took the lead roll, charging along the traintracks with a scary type of determination that made Seifer glad Kobo was with Matron. Fujin had been up early and kicking their sorry asses out of bed so they could get going, apparently she was sick of being ordered around by a homocidal Sorceress they had never seen.

The quick trip to FH had been equally just as boring as this, except the whole boat ride had Raijin leaning over the side throwing up and Fujin threatening the driver. It was miracle they hadn't been dumped overboard but then Fujin was quite...murderous when she was on a boat, while it just made Seifer snooze. How he hadn't fallen asleep on the boatride to Dollet during the SeeD exam was a wonder in itself.

Of course, he was missing the G-Garden, the smooth flowing ride had been useful and made traveling easy. But Balamb Garden had crashed his brilliant Garden into the cracked Cetra land and now it probably wouldn't be able to fly again. What a shame to waste such clever technology. Maybe when this whole war business was over, he could ask a certain Lion to save Galbadia for him.

Seifer was about to lose himself in his thoughts of Squall when a strong hand smacked him up the back of his head. He flinched and glanced over his shoulder, coming eye to eye with an irate Fujin who had snuck up on him, and was now threatening him. Evil glee glinted in her one red eye, making him feel like she was seeing into the depths of his soul and was slowly destroying everything that made him happy.

"FOCUS!" Seifer winced but nodded all the same, ducking to the side so he wouldn't be hit again. He slowed down, watching as Fujin pulled out her pinwheel and literally tore a poor innocent fiend to pieces, it wasn't even trying to attack them, it was simply passing over the rails. He watched as Fujin began to laugh manically. He absently felt Raijin grip onto his coat like a scared child hugging onto its parents leg.

The tanned bulk of muscle was shaking in his sandles and looked on the verge of tears as he hid behind Seifer.

"She's lost it, y'know?" Another bout of laughter left Fujin as she began to twirl around, her pinwheel swinging dangerously. Seifer noticed from the corner of his eye that the fiends that were following their poor newly deceased friend slowly shrank back, hiding themselves.

"...I know." Raikin began to tremble uncontrollably when Fujin began to sing, something about rowboats and catfish, loudly.

"She's gonna kill us, y'know?" Seifer took a deep breath to calm his rattled nerves, watching his insane friend closely as they travelled onwards. Raijin had yet to let go of his coat, but he couldn't really blame the tanned man from hiding. Right about now, he was kind of wishing Squall was with him just so he had somewhere to hide.

He flinched when another unsuspecting fiend died at the merciless hands of the silverette who cackled gleefully. "...I know." This was going to be a very long, _long_ walk. It would be a miracle if anyone survived.

At least they knew never to make Fujin travel long distances again.

Squall glared at thin air, hitching Rinoa higher on his back, wondering why he was doing this again. It wasn't any of his business, he would rather be in his office, signing Hyne knows what and practically ignoring all life on Gaia. It seemed like a brilliant idea, but no, after the long, torturous meeting with Matron, Quistis had given him an imploring look as if he should stand up and shout to the heavens that he was going to walk to Esthar and save his princess.

Rinoa was not his princess, and she never would be if he could help it.

The blue mage had better be counting her blessings because if she wasn't, she was dead. Simple as that. Why couldn't Irvine carry Rinoa all the way to this Hyne forsaken place? Why did he have to prove that he had changed? Which he hadn't, and he definitely wasn't going to. If Seifer could love him as he was then they could too.

Squall cringed at the dreaded 'L' word, even more so when he had just assumed that the blond lov- _cared_ for him. Sure the blond had risked his life to warn him that the war wasn't over, but that could be because Seifer didn't want the world to end. It didn't mean the blond 'L' him- even in his own head he wasn't going to say that horrid word- it just showed that the brash, crude and a absolute-terror-to-live-with blond had a big squishy heart.

Squall sighed and stopped, not so gently flopping Rinoa's lax form onto the floor. He straightened his back, groaning in slight discomfort when it popped and cracked from the torture of being in one position for so long. Having an eighty-odd pounds of dead weight that was somehow called a girl hanging off you didn't help either. He sat on the edge of the tracks, looking out over the sea. The sun was setting, casting a different aray of colours across the sky.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose when all his problems came rushing back, he had momentarily forgotten them as he was too busy bitching about his so called friends. He glanced at Rinoa's sleeping form, feeling a twinge of guilt, though it was more about getting her involved than it was about his not gentle handling of her lax, heavy body.

He could imagine her, towering over him with her hands on her hips as she joined in on Quistis's lectures. But beside her annoying tendances, she had been one of the few who had tried to understand him, and stood by him no matter.

"I'm sorry you got caught up in all this." Squall shifted round so he was sitting by her, he moved her a little so she was resting against his shoulder. "And I'm sorry that I couldn't be man enough to tell you that I could never lo- care for you as much as you do for me." Squall could feel his inner self screaming at him to shut the Hell up, to stop this ridiculous talking right now.

Looking at the ravenette's head, he threw his inner self out the proverbial window, he needed to confess about his feelings, even if it was to a comatose woman. At least he didn't have to worry about being under a judging gaze.

"I guess it started when we were kids, he always looked after me...Seifer, that is... We grew up together, he use to follow me around for ages, calling me names and poking me until I gave in and took notice of him." Squall chuckled to himself, shaking his head with fond exasperation.

"Looks like he never grew out of that...Still when Sis-Ellone disappeared, he stood with me on the porch in the terrible weather. He never complained, not once. He just...stood there. he was always there, either by my side, in front of me spitting insults or just in the background, keeping the kids away...

"I can't remember everything but I know that, even when he was slowly being controlled by Ultimecia, he tried everything in his being to make everything alright." Squall slumped, wishing he hadn't started confessing but he couldn't stop now, he would never forgive himself if he did. He needed to say it, even if he hated the words with his whole being. Somehow, he thought that if he said them, he would be dependant on Seifer for the rest of his life, which was completely stupid.

Squall took a deep breath, steeling himself for when he said them. His inner voice screeched like a banshee, begging him not to do it, not to give in to the temptation..

"I...love him...I love Seifer..." There, he had said it! Squall let out a sigh of relief when the world didn't suddenly implode, or that he didn't find himself suddenly shackled to the blonds side, whimpering like a little scared kitten. Squall smiled to himself, finding himself fully energized as he picked Rinoa up and carried on walking.

He felt as if he could take on a thousand Ultimecia's and still have the energy for a thousand more. He walked along the traintracks with a determind strut, he didn't stop for anything, not even passing fiends that oddly didn't give him a second glance. It was as if they were running from the Devil himself...

"What the...?" Squall blinked, gazing at the corpses of over a dozen monsters, all mutilated beyond recognition. He blinked somwhat owlishly while he went through all the monsters he knew that could do this amount of damage but couldn't think of one. He unconsciously hitched Rinoa back up and slowly started to step over the gore that was strewn across the floor in an absurd pattern.

No wonder the fiends hadn't given him a second glance, he just really hoped that he never bumped into this creature, fighting with someone hanging off your back would be difficult. Though he doubted he would be doing this again, and if he did, it would be Seifer thrown over his back.

Now _that _didn't sound so bad...

+meanwhile+

"Has she stopped?" Seifer peered over his shoulder at the cowering man with a brow raised. He turned back to the scene before him, wondering how someone so small could do so much destruction. They had followed their crazed friend for quite aways and now they stood in front of the Salt flats, a place they had to cross to finally get into Esthar.

Fujin was passed out on the floor, which wasn't surprising as she had just fought over a hundred monsters with no help whatsoever. Her pinwheel was slathered in blackish blood and Seifer wrinkled his nose, he bet the thing smelt truly awful. Oh well, he was sure they could have a rest while his silver haired friend cleaned her weapon.

Flopping ungracefully on the floor, he shifted slightly when Fujin mumbled in her sleep, her hand twitching almost threateningly. Seifer watched her like a hawk, just in case she spontaniously jumped up and attacked. Raijin was several feet away.

He looked up at the reddish sky, shivering even though it wasn't cold at all. Well, they were near a desert. '_Huh, I guess someone's just walked over my grave._' Seifer thought bemusedly before he suddenly sneezed and his ears began to burn. He looked over when Raijin laughed.

"Someone's talking about you, Seifer."

Seifer grinned evilly and poked Fuujin, watching as the tanned man lost all colour and dived from his seat, running for his life as Fuu growled dangerously in her sleep...

A/N: yeah, okay. I know it's a mash up of Seifer's POV and Squall's but I seriously lost all my plot bunnies. ( someone left the window open and they all jumped out) And yes, I know I have been gone for a long time, but that was because I had an arguement with my sister who was my main source of internet, then I started college, so I have been uber busy, besides rounding up my plot bunnies ¬.¬ So all I can say is that I'm sorry, and to forgive me if there is long gaps between updating.

Anyway Read and Review, it will inspire me greatly.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer Bunny: Do I have to the disclaimers for you?

ESB: ...Yeah, you do!

Disclaimer Bunny: Oh, okay. Look ESB does not own FF8 and she never, ever, _ever_ will.

Warning Bunny; The Loony Panda. Odd wirey monster. First ever battle scene (you have been warned) THE WEIRDY WITCH. Cid-bashing. Hints of Ellone. Seifer thinking about Squealy Squall. Fuujin a smidgen Ooc. DREAM!

A/N; (looks at Warning Bunny) wow, that's a really long warning. Anyway, HI EVERYONE! I'm back at last I have my writing mojo back! Just to say, I will start on chapter 17 ASAP! Of course, I must stress that I am in college so if there is a time where I take more than a few weeks updating then I apologise profusely! Anyhow! I like this chapter, I can't wait to get started on the next chapter, and no I haven't made it to disc three, but at college I have been sneakily watching clips of FF8 on the internet XD Oh FF13-2 looks awesome! I can't believe I have wait until next year for it come out *sulks* I wonder how awesome FF8 would look if it was redone all modern. Oh the movie sequences would be all POW and OH and OMG THAT'S AMAZING, and of course SQUALL HAS REALLY NICE EYES XD *coughs sheepishly* Anyway, please R&R!

ENJOYIES!

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Lunatic Pandora stood proudly in all its glory (note that glory means creepiness.) causing a shiver to race up Seifer's spine. He wanted to get away from the towering building but knew that he would be severely punished if he did. Ultimecia could play havoc with ones mind, showing hallucinations of things that should not be mentioned. Still, he took a hesitant step forward before sucking in a deep breath and striding onward, knowing if he took the slow and cautious road, he wouldn't be able to do it and would run the oppisite way. Fujin was on his left, her face set in a grim expression and she was watching everything tiny thing around Lunatic Pandora with a keen eye.

Raijin was somewhere, probably hiding. After Fujin had recovered from her moment of insanity, she was even more reclusive, barely saying one word to them as they crept around Esthar before moving on to where the Loony Panda slept. They had little trouble from monsters on the way to the forboding building, unfortunately. Seifer had kind of been hoping that they would find a massive horde waiting for them so it would at least take a few days to rid the area of them, but no, they found nothing waiting for them, except a creepy old man that had been wandering around the Esthar desert. Man, Seifer never knew Raijin could jump so high and scream, literally, like a girl. How he hadn't died from laughing so hard, he'll never know.

The old man was nice, but there was something about him that made Seifer's hackles rise. He was glad when they parted ways after sparing an hour or too to have a chat and some tea, and so was Fujin apparently, she herself had a bad feeling about the old man. Either way, besides that, it was a long, boring trip. He was worried about Squall, there hadn't been any gossip about the commander and he didn't know if his 'rival' had left Cetra or not. He vaguely wondered what the brunette was doing, but then images of a certain raven haired princess invaded those thoughts so he stopped thinking about Squall, besides nothing good would come from it anyway.

"Seifer!" Said blond barely had time to duck from the attack before he found himself staring at an odd...thing. He was sure it was meant to be a monster, but with all those orb things and wires floating around, he wasn't all that sure. Raijin was hoping from foot to foot, looking very much like he had ants in his pants, though Seifer was sure that was because the wirey monsters had sent flames along the floor after failing to decapitate him. Seifer pulled Hyperion free of her holster and charged into battle, feeling the familiar sensations of magic sliding over his skin. Fujin was acting as the healer this time, casting Shell and Protect to boost their defenses.

Seifer swung Hyperion down onto what he assumed to be the left flank of the monster, the blade quickly hit the barrier of wires, and there was a split second where he thought his gunblade wasn't going to cut through but the wires gave under the swords pressure and were sliced cleanly. The monster gave a gravely howl from within the center orb and Seifer grunted as he was hit with a nasty Fira, though the pain was lessened by Shell.

Seifer doubled back, silently ordering Raiin to do the same. The monster was failing wildly and flinging magic spells around after one attack, he had to think this one through or risk causing harm to his friends. If the monster acted like that after having a few of its floating wires cut, it could get more and more vicious as it gained more wounds..

If they had wounded it of course, it was kind of hard to tell with it being, you know, all floaty orbs and stuff.

"Fu, can you cast Scan on it?" Looking at the silverette, her expression told him everything. Scan didn't work, which was worrying, not that he liked using Scan but against this thing, it could be useful. Frowning deeply, he ignored the robotic fiend for a few seconds, trying to think of a plan.

_'What would Squall do?'_ That was a good thought and it sparked something with in Seifer's brain. He practically relived all of his past battles with Squall and it inspired him to create a plan on the spot. Glancing at the monster, he narrowed his eyes, watching it closely.

It was faint and barely noticable, even to the trained eye unless they knew what to look for but the right Orb flickered after each spell. The left shuddered, it looked cracked in certain places and floated along sluggishly after Seifers attack. And the one above the center Orb almost looked like an eye, twitching around wildly.

Without looking away, he gave his orders. "Fu, cast Blind on the top Orb, Rai, take out the left." With that, he charged forward, Hyperion swining up in an arc to slice through the right Orb's wires, the magic being summoned stuttered for a few seconds before the Fira died on the spot. The fiend howled and the sound of glass breaking caused Seifer to turn and watch as the left Orb smashed into tiny pieces under Raijins staff.

The monster staggered backwards, the top Orb now immobile as it suffered total darkness under Blind. He didn't even say a word before Fujin's pinwheel flew past his head to hit the center Orb while Raijin took out the right Orb, making sure it never had the chance to fire out any magic spells.

Seifer felt the swell of pride fill his chest, though he would have more smug if Squall had been here to see him deliver the final blow to the center Orb, watching the porcelain like surface crack and break into tiny pieces. The top Orb simply fell to the ground, looking like a overly large pearl.

Reholsering Hyperion, he shook off the defensive spell and walked over the monster fragments, feeling oddly annoyed that he was saddened by the fact that Squall wasn't here.

"Lets get this thing moving already."

Getting the Lunatic Pandora started was harder than it sounded. First of all, each floor they travelled up had one or two large monsters guarding the way. Second was the fact that all machinery was in ancient Cetra which meant it took Seifer an hour or two to decipher the commands. And finally, Raijin had begun complaining again and where as Fujin would have kicked the man into silence, she was still acting odd after her episode.

Seifer sighed and looked up from a control pannel that he had been deciphering, he gave Raijin a glare that the tanned man ignored in favour of moaning louder, if possible. Fujin was sitting on a bit debris, checking her nails. Seifer was tempted to ask if she had suddenly gone wimpy but couldn't make up his mind if he liked homocidal Fujin or the quiet, speculative one. At least if she was homocidal, he knew what to expect.

Stepping away from the control pannel of the sixth floor, he stretched his back and rolled his shoulders. Hyperion was on the floor, slathered in Hyne knows what. He was tired, angry, and missing his brunette. He knew this was a war and that he wasn't going to have a chance to rest until it was over but was it too much to ask for an hour nap?

He questiong was answered when that annoying loud ringing sounded in his ears, bringing him to knees as he gripped his skull in agony. Numbness washed over his body and darkness creeped over his vision, and all he saw was Fujin calling his name before he lost consciousness and dreamt.

_It was raining._

_It always seemed to be raining in these dreams, and he couldn't figure out why. Though he knew what to do by now, knew what these dreams were. Glancing round he recognized the familier sight of Balamb Garden gates. There was two figures standing outside, one was child and another a man. The wind was cold, telling Seifer that it was at least late Autumn, leading onto Winter._

_Seifer narrowed his eyes, walking forward, hearing the splash of his boots. When these dreams started, they were flashes of his memories, something he had no control over, only something he could experience but as they kept happening, e found that he could move , even converse to people, though the downside was that he was in his younger selfs body. Which was a strange thing to experience. Still, it was nice to see things he had forgotten, which he still hadn't figured out why._

_Walking up to the figures, he was surprised to see Squall and Headmaster Cid. Squall looked like a drowned rat, brown locks falling into his eyes as he glared death itself at Cid. Cid had one of his creepy grins on his face. He felt his hackles rise as Cid took something from his pocket, and he was vaguely reminded of one of Matron's safety drills 'don't take things from strangers.' But this was a different type of dream, if he had been in his younger selfs body, he probably could tell Squall not to take it, not to trust Cid. However, he was just seeing the dream, floating around like a ghost._

_He hated being a ghost._

_Squall shifted, looking at the object Cid was showing him and Seifer hurried closer to see a glowing ball of colour, magic pulsing from within. It was a GF._

_"I want to see Seifer!" Squall looked angry, well as angry as a eleven year old could look. He was pale, dark rings circled those amazing blue hues. Seifer felt a tinge of guilt and gently lay his hand on Squall's shoulder, wishing he could hold him close and comfort him._

_"You can see Seifer in a moment, Squall," Cid sighed and knelt down, giving Squall one of his best charming smiles. All it did was make Squall glare harder and Seifer go rigid, squeezing Squall's shoulder though his hand simply passed through. "This is a GF called Alexander. He is really gentle, don't you want to see the power of a GF?" Seifer tensed, this all sounded so familiar. He watched as Squall shifted uncomfortably, looking curious but wary. At Cid urging, he touched the glowing ball, just as everything came rushing back to Seifer. _

_He reached out to knock the GF from Cid's hand, knowing that once Squall touched the ball, he would forget everything about the Orphanage, about Matron, about Seifer._

_Seifer watched helpless as his hand simply went through the ball and Squall nimble fingers connected the with the GF and a bright light coursed through the area, glowing bright before suddenly vanishing. Seifer growled as Cid hauled an unconscious Squall into his arms after he pocketed Alexander, a smug smile on his face._

_Seifer through every profanity at the mans retreating back. If he didn't hate Cid before, he certainly did now. He would never forgive Cid for what he did. Sealing his memories to halt Ultimecia's control on him is one thing, forcing people to forget their friends and family is another. The dream began to warp and he could vaguely heard Fujin calling his name worriedly._

_But at least he knew of Cid's deception, and it only made him want to protect Squall all the more._

Seifer groaned as he came back to the living, his head was pounding and his body protested even the smallest of movements. Though all lathargy left when the dream events caught up to him and he bolted upright, a growl reverberating in his chest as anger coursed through his veins. He glanced round, noting the surprised look on Fujin's face which was only inches from his own.

He took a few breaths as rational thinking graced him with its presence, whispering that being angry wasn't going to help now, that he should save that anger for when his knightly duties come calling, like protecting Squall from the rest of the world.

The room was quiet for a minutes as Seifer calmed down and Raijin peeled himself away from the ceiling while Fujin looked him over with a critical eye. Seifer stood slowly, rubbing his temples to ease the pain and then went back to the control pannel, looking it over before slamming his fist into it a couple of times, smiling when the lift groaned to life.

Fujin and Raijin followed him up to the seventh floor, blinking in surprise when Seifer simply killed the monster with one swipe, walking with determination. The only thought running through Seifer's mind was _'Protect Squall. Must protect Squall.'_ and nothing was going to stop him, not even a deranged Sorceress.

It seemed that Lunatic Pandora had only seventh floors inside, and one on the roof. Seifer read over the old worn instructions, giving orders to what wire goes where to Raijin who stood there with a stunned look on his face. Fujin was unneved by Seifer's sudden change in personality, concerned that Ultimecia had taken control of her friend. Walking up to Seifer, she placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a slight tug to get him to look at her.

Seifer turned, blinking down at Fujin who looked at him with her one eye, a frown marring her features. "Seifer, what's wrong? It's not like you to be...so angry." She didn't know how to put it any other way, but then tiptoing round the issue wasn't her forte. She could tell Seifer was thinking about his answer, and she gave his shoulde a squeeze, trying to tell him that she was here, that she could help with any problem that was bothering him. Seifer slumped, realizing that he much preferred it when she was killing everything in sight.

"Okay, look. You know of Ellone," At Fujins nod, Seifer gave Raijin another order just to keep the man out of earshot. "Well she's a Sorceress and she's been sending me these dreams."

"Like earlier, when you collasped?"

"Yeah, they allow me to see what's happened in the past. This one... It showed me why Squall and I never remembered each other. Cid, he used a GF to seal my memories to stop Ultimecia's control, but selfishly used it on Squall, for what reason I don't know..."

"But?" Fujin sensed there was a 'but' hanging in the air and was proved right when Seifer ran a hand over his face, feeling stressed all of a sudden. Fujin waited patiently, her one hand still on his shoulder.

"But I think has something to do with the fact that Squal's a Sorcerer." Seifer waited for Fujin to blow up, but all she did was nod, looking grim and oddly annoyed. She side-glanced to a waiting Raijin who was looking like a lost puppy holding a big thick wire, waiting for the next order. She stepped back and folded her hands over her chest.

"We'll talk once we have this thing in the air. I don't like this anymore than you do, but we can't help Squall right now. All we can do is keep following Ultimecia's orders and hope we survive long enough."

"Yeah. Blue wire in the second red plug!" Seifer turned back to the large, looming pannel, watching as it slowly lit up with power. Fujin was right, he couldn't help Squall in anyway yet, not until Ultimecia was out the way. All he could do was wait and hope that they all survived the war...

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A/N;...Um, yeah. So like I promised I would review sooner and I did! ^-^ As you know, I don't like Cid, so sorry any Cid-fans. The next update should be soon, if any of you don't get this chapter ('cos lets face it, I'm not exactly normal XD) Just PM me and I'll try to explain it the best I can :) Please Read and Review, it is muchly appreciated!


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer bunny; ESB does not own FF8.

Warnings bunny;...Oh this one is a long one. *takes deep breath* Quisty-bashing(just a little) Hint of THE WEIRDY WITCH. SORCERESS ADEL! Gilgamesh freeing Seifer :) The Loony Panda. Time Compression. Laguna Loire XD Hints of a Moomba! Ellone-bashing. And insights on how Sorceress were born.

A/N;...Wow that was a long warnings review. Oh to just to inform you, I have no idea how Sorceress's became...Sorceress's, so I made something up! And I'm sorry it took this long to update but I had to do my Health and Safety in the workplace exam, my manual handling exam, practise maths exam and then my proper maths exam, then we had a practise interview and then had to do a presentation...I was busy lol ¬.¬. Anyway I'm blabbering. Please Read and Review!

ENJOYIES!

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"Seifer! Let me go!"

Seifer ignored Rinoa's shout and simply tightened his hold as she tried to wiggle out of his grasp. He continued to drag her down the hallway, towards where Adel stood waiting, asleep. He didn't want to do this but he had little choice if he wanted the world to survive, Ultimecia had made it clear that if he didn't bring Rinoa to Adel, there would be little left his metal state to remember how to breathe, never mind Squall. He couldn't even feel proud about besting Odin in battle because it had been Ultimecia's power over him that killed Odin, not his own strength. Though Ultimecia had not been pleased at Gilgamesh's appearance, especially after the GF had halted her control on him, and he was now, technically, free of her.

But he couldn't risk it, he couldn't risk losing everything he cared about because he had a moment of selfishness. If what Ultimecia cackled on about was true, then if the Time Compression did happen, maybe Squall could go into the future, kick Ultimecia's ass and be back in time for dinner. It was a promising plan, one that filled Seifer with hope.

Nodding his head in determination, he picked up the pace, knowing Squall and the gang would be hot on his tail. After all Quistis was determined to get Rinoa and Squall together, what better way than to have Squall save the raven from a nasty (and quite ugly) crazy-assed Sorceress like Adel? Seifer was tempted to turn around, march up to the strawberry blond and give her a piece of his mind, but he could do that in due time, all he had to do was wait...

He hated waiting.

"Seifer, why are you doing this!" Seifer glanced at the struggling girl in his arms, feeling a little embarrassed that he had totally forgot she was there, it was easy to just wander off in his thoughts. Still, she deserved an answer, she was a sacrifice of sorts.

"Because, I have to," Seifer turned the corner, nearly making Rinoa trip over her own feet as she tried to keep up with his pace. "It's my last order, and probably one of the only mistakes Ultimecia has made."

Rinoa stopped struggling for a moment and let out a confused sound. "You're not making much sense. What do you mean it's your last order!" Seifer sighed, feeling his irritation grow at the girls stupidity.

"Ultimecia no longer controls me." Seifer said as if that answered everything.

"Oh, then why are you dragging me towards Hyne knows where?" Was that a flicker of hope in her eyes? Seifer felt bad that he was going to literally feed her to the wolves, but it was for Squall, for the whole world, even.

" I'm doing this for Squall. The Time Compression must happen for him to defeat Ultimecia." Rinoa looked even more confused but then her face dropped and she sighed wearily. She let herself be dragged while she thought a few things over.

"You," She swallowed thickly and let out another sigh before she looked straight at Seifer. "You really care for Squall, don't you?" Seifer stopped walking, his grip falling a little slack but Rinoa didn't attempt to break free, she only turned and stared right at him. Seifer was a little surprised, for once Rinoa actually looked her age and she wasn't whining at him either. She looked serious and a little pensive, but that could have been due to the surroundings. Lunatic Pandora was a creepy place. He didn't answer and Rinoa tutted, placing her hands on her hips and gazed off to the side.

"Look, I over heard Squall say somethings while Ultimecia had control of my body," She looked back at him, pain causing her eyes to glitter in the dim light. "He doesn't know I heard but..." Seifer was surprised when she poked him hard in the chest, frowning deeply, a look that didn't suit her young face.

"I know he's a Sorcerer, I could sense it. I don't think the others have realized it but with all this going on, I don't think they'll be happy-"

"I'll protect him, no matter what." Seifer blurted out, his brain was going 200mph and he was beginning to feel a little sick. What did Squall say? Was it important? Was it about him? "What...What did Squall say?" Rinoa's expression changed, and a sly grin covered her lips. She blinked innocently and tapped a manicured finger against her mouth.

"I can't say," She sang, the sly smile still on he face. "Besides I think he should tell you himself. All I ask is that you look after him, Quistis can be really...insensitive at times, and Zell will probably take her side. I don't know about Selphie and Irvine but...Now you were dragging me somewhere?" Seifer glared and grabbed hold of her arm, charging down the hall, looking annoyed. Rinoa let out a giggle, knowing she had got on Seifer's nerves by not telling him. Though she was terrified and a little hurt. Terrified because she was positive she was being dragged to her doom. Hurt because she really had got feelings for Squall, there was something about the brunette that drawed people to him, even her. However, she knew when to back off, and she didn't fancy being in a battle with Seifer just for Squall's attention when there would be no hope for her.

It was quiet for the moment, Seifer could feel his conscious nagging at him, telling him he shouldn't do this. Rinoa could possibly die and Squall could hate him for doing it, but he couldn't risk running away and leaving the world at the hands of two crazy Sorceress's. Adel would undoubtedly wake soon, and if Ultimecia got her hands on her, then the world would be doomed and there was little doubt that Squall would be the first to go.

The doors to the room that held Adel loomed into view and Seifer felt his heart stutter at the overwhelming feel of _insanity_ that seeped from within. Rinoa shivered and sucked in a shakey breath while she tried to calm her own heart. Seifer stood there for a few minutes, everything in him was trying to make him turn away and run like a bat out of Hell, but he reminded himself that he was doing this for the future that hung delicately in his hands. The future would no doubt be better if Ultimecia wasn't in it, or maybe she would be but then the future SeeD's might have a better chance at fighting her. Who knew what the future held, all he knew was that he needed to send Squall there to stop the insane bitch from killing anymore people. He stood there for a few more minutes until he heard the distant voice of Selphie, shouting back at the gang.

He stepped up the large doors, tightening his grip on Rinoa's arm for only a second in a show of false comfort. He looked down at her as Selphie's shouts grew nearer. "Rin, I'm so sorry."

"I know." Seifer pushed the doors open, forcing his feet to go forward and stopped in front of Adel who slept peacefully until the tall woman's hand twitched and her eyes suddenly snapped opened. Crazed red eyes looked around from behind it's glass like prison before those eyes settled on him and Rinoa, who had stopped moving and stood as still as a statue, her eyes wide with horror. The glass surrounding Adel's prison broke into tiny pieces, freeing the woman from her confines. Seifer's heart was in his throat and beating wildly as Adel stepped from her cage and stretched. He felt his stomach turn and had to swallow quickly just to try and keep the contents in his stomach where they were. Adel was hideous, how anyone could follow or even work for her was...unbelievable. She didn't even look like a woman! She had a flat, masculine chest and big bulging muscles on her arms. Seifer thought Squall looked more womanly then Adel did.

Adel stepped closer, her hand outstretched to take either one of them. Seifer felt his good nature rise to the top, and he was about to push Rinoa behind him to protect her when she gave him a hearty shove and Adel grabbed her instead of him. Rinoa screamed loudly as she felt Adel's magic curl round her body, slithering along her skin in a disgusting way.

"S-seifer! G-get out! Go!" Rinoa stuttered out, knowing Squall and the others would have heard her scream and would be heading their way. If they found Seifer, there would be Hell to pay and she didn't think Squall would be able handle Quistis and Zell demanding the blonds head on a platter without revealing his feelings. Seifer stumbled to his feet, backstepping until his back hit the far wall. He watched in horrified fascination as Rinoa's arms and legs were molded onto Adel body and she hung limply, her eyes fluttering closed as she succumbed to Adel's power. Adel shuddered and she stretched and he could hear every bone in her large body popping and cracking from not being used for eighteen years.

Adel chuckled darkly, just as Squall and the gang burst in, looking shocked at what they saw. Squall frowned and Seifer presed even further against the wall as sharp blue eyes landed on him, hiding in a dark corner. Quistis was shaking her head in horror and disbelief. Zell was just blinking owlishly, Irvine was loading his shotgun and Selphie simply pointed at Adel and screamed "EW!" Seifer felt laughter bubble up but kept silent as Squall's eyes stared at him for a minute longer before concentrating on Adel. He shouted out orders. Selphie was to do defensive magic, Quistis alternating between healing and casting offensive magic with triple while he, Zell and Irvine attacked Adel head on.

Seifer took the battle's advantage and crept from the room, once he was halfway down the hall, he turned back to watch as Squall gave a deep, nasty gash to Adel's left shoulder and her meteor spell stuttered to stop before she started chanting again. Seifer ran for the lift, almost stopping until he realized he no longer felt Ultimecia's crushing pressure over his mind. He sent a silent thanks to Gilgamesh as he pushed the first floor button in the elevator which groaned and sputtered before slowly starting to descend. The sounds of the battle dulled as he went past each floor until it was a low hum. He exited the lift only to shiver and all of Lunatic Pandora seemed to shudder with him, the walls began to blur and then they seemed to stretch. Seifer realized that the sounds of the battle had stopped when the Loony Panda had shuddered.

_'Time Compression.'_ Seifer felt his body shiver again and he hurried for the exit, not wanting to be caught in the Time Compression. He made it out just as Lunatic Pandora visably shook, Ragnarok doing the same as the top of the towering building began to glow. He vaguely wondered what happened to Fujin and Raijin but he got his answer when Ragnarok's engines fired to life and the ship untangled itself from Lunatic Pandora. He watched as the glowing dulled and he blinked, he had thought the whole thing would have disappeared. He stared at the top of Lunatic Pandora, wondering what Squall was doing at this moment in time, was he falling through the Time Compression, or was he already on his way to kicking Ultimecia's ass?

He hoped it was the latter.

"Seify!" Seifer blinked and looked away, only to feel a growl bubbling up in his chest at the sight of Ellone who waved at him cheerily, running towards him for a hug no doubt. He took a step back when Ellone finally reached him, and gave her a critical look, to which Ellone sighed dejectedly. Her arms dropped and she looked over her shoulder. Seifer followed her gaze and saw a middle aged man standing there, a goofy grin on his face as he talked to a little Moomba that had strangely appeared from nowhere, still the little creature looked pleased to see the man. He would have questioned what the president of Esther was doing in a place like this, but those blue hues were too much of a give away.

He wondered if Squall knew that Laguna Loire was his dad, but then of course the brunette would, Squall had a keen eye. Still, Seifer was going to quiz him when he came back from the future.

"Seify, how have you been?" Seifer looked back at Ellone, he felt a little uncomfortable but decided that while Fujin figured out how to land the Ragnarok, he would humour the woman.

"Fine, Ellone." Seifer rolled his eyes when Ellone pouted and latched onto his arm.

"Oh, Seify. Call me Sis." Seifer tried to free his arm but Ellone was having none of it, she only gripped tighter and proceeded to drag him a little further away from Laguna and the cheery Moomba. Once they were far enough for Ellone's satisfaction(Laguna may act goofy but he had excellent hearing) She let go of Seifer's arm and gave him a once over, besides his trench coat looking a little battered and pale purple rings around his eyes, he looked alright. She glanced back at Laguna, who was at this time trying to convince the stubborn Moomba to have a piggy back, she spoke quietly and calmly, like how she used speak when she was around Seifer way back in the Orphanage.

"Is it too much to assume that you know-"

"Squall's a Sorcerer? Yeah, I know." Seifer bit out, crossing his arms over his chest, he was getting tired of people treating him as if he didn't know what was going on. He did have a brain! Ellone shifted uncomfortably at his tone of voice, something she had never done when they were in the Orphanage.

"Oh, good. Um, look, Squall's the only Sorcerer in the last two hundred years. Hyne's power has only decended through women. No one's ever found out why, it's just something that happens..." Seifer rolled his eyes and tuned her out for a few minutes while she explained what he already knew. No scientist has ever found out why Hyne's power only went to women, some speculated it was because way back when Hyne fell in love with a woman (obviously) but people became angry and jealous that one person had all Hyne's attention, so they tried to kill Hyne's lover and in turn he gave her some of his power. Seifer just thought it was because the magic chose who it chose, like GF's who would serve their summoner but if they didn't like the person or felt that their powers were being abused, the GF's tended to eventually leave in search of a better suited person.

Of course, he never admitted this, Squall was Sorcerer because he was, end of story. He had no reason to spaz out over it because it was life, just because Squall would probably be a Sorcerer for the rest of his life, it didn't mean Seifer loved him any less.

"...and so, Squall will probably be discriminated because of this.. Are you listening Seifer!" Seifer rolled his eyes again and thanked Hyne himself when a strong breeze flew past and the sound of Ragnarok's engines sounded loudly from behind him, the ground shook as the large ship not so gently landed.

"Yeah, yeah. Squall's a Sorcerer. People won't be happy, blah blah blah. Gotta protect him. I got it the first time." Seifer turned on his feet, inwardly smirking at Ellone's fuming visage. He waved half-heartedly as Fujin came down the ramp, looking as sour as ever. She looked him over and then nodded her head, though she hissed in surprise when Laguna seemed to magically appear beside her, grinning as bright as the sun.

"Hi-"

"SHIP. ABOARD!" Laguna blinked owlishly before nodding madly like a puppy. He grabbed hold of his Moomba friend and disappeared into the ship. Seifer snickered behind his hand, coughing when Fujin gave him a deathly glare. Ellone sauntered past, her face as thunderous as Quezacotl's Thunder Storm. Seifer stood there for a moment mentally snickering at Ellone, because he had pointed out multiple times that he didn't like her, or Cid. _'That's another thing I need to sort out.'_

"Seifer, Squall left this on the ship." Seifer was instantly intrigued and he nearly tackled Fujin to the floor trying to grab the note. Snatching the note out of her hand, Seifer read over the note eagerly, only to slump and sulk at what the note said.

_Seifer._

_Take Laguna and Ellone back to Esther, and then take Ragnarok and find somewhere lay low until I sort out everything with the Galbadian Goverment._

_Squall._

Seifer huffed and messily shoved the note into his pocket, trudging slowly up the ramp and towards the cockpit. He heard Fujin sigh and close the ramp. She watched as he disappeared up onto the next floor before crossing her arms over chest. If there was one word to sum Seifer up it would be...

"CHILD!"

(A/N: and just a little bit extra, because you, my readers are worth it! 3)

=A little bit extra XD=

Squall and the gang slowly, and cautiously, stepped through one of the many portal surrounding Ultimecia's Castle, they were running low on items after defeating three of her guardians. They had fully stocked Curaga's but didn't want to risk it, especially if they were going to go against Ultimecia after they finally found her, besides Aura stones came in handy.

Stepping over the boney skeleton of T-Rex, Squall tuned out Quistis's preening. She was still cooing over Rinoa, sending daggers at his back because he refused to give the raven a hug, even though Rinoa tried to say that she didn't need one from him. Squall was suspicious, ever since he saved her from floating around in space until she died, she hadn't been as clingy, often walking with Selphie and Irvine at the back. He had a feeling she had heard everything that day on the train tracks, and he could feel a blush threatening to rise up.

"Look! It's the Ragnarok!" Squall looked up, putting the mental image of him stabbing his blush repeatedly to the back of his mind. Sure enough, Ragnarok stood proudly on the dried, cracked Centra land. The ship looked a little dusty but besides that, it looked in pretty amazing condition. Squall hurried over to the ship and quickly looked for the hidden control panel to open the ramp. He rushed inside and up to the cockpit, wondering if his most beautiful ship still had power or not. Besides Balamb Garden was good but Ragnarok was better, it could get you to the places that was unaccessible to Balamb as the Garden couldn't fly over mountains.

Sitting in the Captains seat, ignoring Selphie's whine, he looked over the panels and frowned when he found an old piece of paper. Carefully pulling it out from it's place between the hand controls, he gently opened it and had to hold back an uncharacteristic smile.

_Squall._

_You better make it up to me when you come back._

_Seifer._

Squall folded the note and put it in his pocket, not wanting Quistis to find it. Oh yes, he would definitely have to make it up to Seifer when he got back. However, it raised the question as to how the blond knew the note would still be intact in the future, and how the Ragnarok ended up in Centra anyway.

Squall groaned inaudibly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Even after being seperated by a few hundred years, Seifer was still bothering him!

* * *

A/N; There you go, all finished! And a little Ficlet for you readers as well. Ha! Seifer still got his own back. Anyway, I actually made Rinoa be like the good guy in this one and I didn't bash her...as much ¬.¬ Still, I know Ellone's appearance was a little sudden but you don't actually see where they go after Squall and the gang was whisked into the future, so I added my own theory. And yes, I know you have to get on a chocobo and go all round Centra to find the Ragnarok but details, details XD Am I the only one who first thought Adel was a guy? I was pretty sure she was a guy...Anyway don't forget to R&R!


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimer Bunny: Really? You think, after _all_ this time, I have some how got owner ship of FF8? HAHHAHA please, as if! I do not ownies FF8, never have, never will.

Warnings: Seifer probably a little Ooc, Quisty-bashing, Cid-bashing, Rinoa being a good guy. Squally using his voo doo powers. Mention of the Weirdy Witch.

A/N: *Hides behinds giant Alexander plushie* I'm not going to say anything or than that this is NOT the last chapter, 1 more to go, and Read and Review please? ^-^'

ENJOYIES!

"Matron?" Seifer stared bewildered at the breathless Matron, wondering how on Earth she found him considering he was in hiding, though he suspected it had something to do with Ragnarok parked near enough right outside his door. Still, he never expected to see her on his door step, out of breath and looking like she had something very important to tell him. He quickly ushered the woman inside and prattled around the little kitchenette, trying to figure out what he was going to serve. Tea? Water? Smooth orange juice? He stopped when he heard Matron giggle. In the end, Seifer ended up sitting at the little table while Matron poured herself some tea.

The blond Gunblader wondered when he was going to be able to resist Matron's looks but then quickly realised that it was never going to happen. Slumping on the table, he resisted the urge to tap his fingers, unable to forget what was missing in his life. He near enough had everything, he had the Ragnarok, he had his memories back, there was just one thing missing, which oddly reminded him to ask why Matron had been breathless, but once again the knowing woman beat him to it with a little hum.

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot," Matron turned round from the stove, a sly twinkle in her eye. "Squall and the other have just returned, not ten minutes ago. Though I sense there is something wrong with Squall." She had barely mentioned Squall before the blond was up, grabbing Hyperion and heading towards the door. She chuckled to herself as she heard the loud rumble of Ragnarok's engines. She pondered on why Seifer didn't just run to the Orphanage, the little hut he had made for himself wasn't far from it.

Seifer gripped the steering wheel of the Ragnarok tightly, turning it sharply as he landed the aircraft after a minute of flying. He would admit to himself later that it had been a little pointless to fly when he was so close to the Orphanage. Shutting down the engines, he dived from his seat and quickly headed outside only to shiver at how cold it was considering that Centra was a desert-like land. Frost was creeping along the floor, shimmering in the midday sun, and his breath could been visably in puffs as a bad feeling crept up his spine. Jogging up to the Orphanage, he hissed when took hold of the doorknob, nearly having his hand froze to the metal, he kicked the door in a few seconds of thought and headed towards the beach, the hilt of Hyperion gripped tightly in his hand.

The sight that greeted him at the beach was one that was hauntingly beautiful, though Seifer wished to never see it again. Where the sea met sand was frozen solid and the ice crept further away from land, waves glittering like crytals in the sun. The gang was just standing there, their eyes wide open and their mouths agape, except for Rinoa who was talking in hushed whispers, trying to calm the one person who could do this sort of damage.

"Squall."

The brunette was just standing there, though the crackle of magic gave everything away as he casted another powerful Blizzaga, ice sliding across the beach and curling round Seifer's boots. Chocolate locks covered Squall's eyes, but Seifer had an idea they were glowing fiercely, particles of ice slithering round his fingertips that reminded Seifer of Deiling when Edea had summoned those troublesome spears of ice.

Seifer shuddered at the memory and took a step froward, frost crunching underneath his feet. He watched as Selphie turned towards him first, followed by Irvine and Zell, both of which were pale and disbelief written over their faces, causing anger flare Seifer's chest. The closer he got to an immobile Squall, the more he noticed that the only one allowed close to brunette was Rinoa, everytime Cid, or Quistis tried to get closer, they got sent flying backwards by magic, especially Cid. Seifer inwardly snickered at that.

He ignored Quistis and simply pushed passed her after she got sent backwards from Squall, and finally he could hear what Rinoa was feverently whispering. A smile creeping on her face when she spotted him.

"Squall, calm down. It's okay. Seifer's here now. Just calm down." Rinoa backed off after that, though she was still worried. Surely summoning this much magic wasn't good for Squall, and so soon after defeating Ultimecia as well. Still it was in Seifer's hands now, even if Quistis looked like she wanted to object.

Seifer stood there for a moment, feeling cold magic curl round his form protectively. A smirk formed on his face, though his stance stayed tense just in case Squall suddenly freaked and attacked.

"Hey there Ice Princess. This is lovely and all but I'd rather not freeze to death." If Seifer hadn't known the brunette for all of his life, he would have missed the slight twitch of pale blue lips. _So the cold is affecting him too._ Sighing as if he was bored, which he wasn't he just need some sort of outlet to stop him from tackling the Sorcerer to the ground he watched as Squall's hand twitched, and almost instantly the continuious cold temperature dropped and the heat that followed was a relief. However Squall continued to cast Blizzaga and there was subtle aura of _anger _surrounding the brunette. Sighing deeply to stop himself from maiming everyone, Seifer turned round and folded his arms over his chest in his normal superior pose.

"Okay, who pissed off pretty boy?"

In the many minutes that passed after Seifer asked his question, it was a miracle no one had been killed. Okay, so Cid was lucky he hadn't been killed, Quistis was a close second. It seemed that after everyone had returned from the Time Compression on the beach, Cid and Matron had been waiting with cheerful smiles on their faces. The gang had been celebrating, patting each other on the back and being overly touchy except for Squall who was not so subtly asking Matron about Seifer's where-abouts, knowing the blond was brainy enough to tell the woman who raised them where he lived.

Here everything went down hill, naturally.

Cid had overheard, and knowing about Squall's heritage, had butted in like he normally does, advising Squall to stay away from the blond and perhaps he should seal his powers with a GF. This of course had flicked a lot of memories in Squall's brain and he had, for lack of better words, spazzed out and ended up trying to turn Cetra into a Winter Wonderland. Quistis had mainly whinged throughout the whole explanation about Squall not tell her about his gift and that was why she was close to staring death in the face.

So now everyone was huddled round Ragnarok while Seifer carefully herded a still seething, unresponsive Lion onto the spaceship. It had taken a few seconds to calm Squall down enough that the gunblader actually listened to who was talking to him, apparently murderously angry Sorcerers suffer from tunnel vision. However Squall must be the _only_ Sorcerer who calms down after having a few insults thrown his way.

After making sure Squall was stomping, like an angry kitten, towards the cockpit, Seifer turned on the ramp, blocking everyone's entry to the ship.

"Sorry, folks. No more vacancies." Seifer smirked as everyone, excluding Rinoa as she simply nodded her head and headed back to the Orphanage, kicked up a fuss. Quistis was the loudest, pure disbelief and lack of trust in voice.

"And why should we trust you with Squall? You worked for Ultimecia, Hyne knows what you'll do to him! Besides, we don't know the Time Compression did to him, he could turn evil on us." Seifer instantly narrowed his eyes, feeling anger surge in chest at how she could think such things of Squall.

"Yeah? Who was the one who stopped Squall from turning you into ice statue? Who was the one Squall, even in his enraged state trusted enough to get near to him? And for your information, I didn't have much of a choice in serving that twisted bitch," Seifer huffed out a breath, feeling every muscle in his body tense, as if he was preparing for battle. "You should know Squall isn't capable of hurting anyone unless he is, I dunno, risking his life to protect all of your sorry asses. You really should be ashamed of yourself for thinking so low of Squall. If I wasn't such a gentleman, I would have slapped you one a long time ago." And with that, he flicked the switch for the ramp which jerked to life and watched as everyone stumbled back, their eyes wide in shock as he disappeared within the draconic ship.

The engines growled to life, flames flaring out as Seifer surged the ship upwards into the sky, heading to Hyne knows where, and kicking up a cloud of dust that swarmed round the group causing them to cough.

Quistis was not amused. "Who the Hell does he think he is! We've been Squall's friend a lot longer than he has!" Quistis stamped her foot on the ground, her gloved hands clenched tight into fists as she shook with loathing, however she came unstuck when Irvine hummed thoughtfully, tipping his hat back and wrapping an arm round Selphie's small shoulders.

"I don't think so, darlin'. Those two were always hangin' round each other, fightin' or just standing outside in the rain." Selphie beamed brightly, ever cheerful.

"Yeah! Seifer used to chase us away when we were trying to get Squall to play with us! And Squall was always the one to stop Seifer when he was picking on us, he even brought me soup once when I was ill..." Quistis was suddenly faced with three pairs of eyes, even Zell was looking a little guilty that he had doubted Squall and Seifer. The strawberry blond slumped, unable to deny that they had a point. Pouting with defeat, she straighened her back and tried to look professional which was hard to do when she was covered in dust, frost and some strange liquid that she was positive was blood from the Omega Weapon, she wasn't sure though.

She walked confidently towards the Orphanage, wondering if her old room was still there so she could sulk discreetly..

A/N: *Hides behind giant Kobo plushie.* Please don't kill meeeeee. I know I'm late updating, AGAIN, but but I have a good excuse...Well okay, so I got stuck doing work at College. But researching eight units full of stuff is _hard_ :( Especially when you get distracted by shiney things ^/^. Anyway R&R and tell me what you think, please? You can moan at me too for being late.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer Bunny: She still does not own the game.

Warning Bunny: ehehehehehe...

A/N: okay, I know took me forever to update AGAIN! But here's the chapter and it's not the last one! Though the next one will be *nods head determindly* Anywaaaaaay, please R&R! And you can still moan at me for taking so long too.

P.S. Big thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I send you hugs!

ESB: Now on with the story!

ENJOYIES!

Squall stared hard at the side of Seifer's head, burning a deep, gouging hole there. He narrowed his eyes further when the blond shifted uncomfortably, jade green eyes glancing his way before they turned back to the sky. Now that he had chance to calm down, Squall felt an annoying bubble of uncertainty growing in his chest, the people he sort of classed as his friends knew what he could do, what he was, all because he had lost his temper like a child!

He very much wanted to slump in his seat and sulk, but his muscles were too tense and his spine too rigid for him to do that. It seems that even though he had calmed down, his mind was racing at two hundred miles per hour, refusing to give him a moments peace to sort out his crazy thoughts, most of which were unfortunately squealing like a school girl to the fact that _Seifer came and got him!_ Squall instantly squished that thought, replacing it with '_Oh Hyne, Oh Hyne, they know. THEY KNOW! What am I going to do? THEY KNOW!' _That thought caused a painfull throbbing to appear in his skull at the sheer loudness his mind was screeching.

Ragnarok swirved suddenly to miss a flock of birds heading straight for them, making Seifer swear crudely and moan about kamikaze birds trying to kill them. It amazed Squall how calm Seifer was, sooner or later Quistis was going to send Balamb Garden after them, to which Laguna would probably send all of Esthar looking for him. That would be disasterous. Laguna was a goofball, but he was a stubborn _goofball_. One Squall had no patience for, besides all of his patience was normally all taken up trying not to kis- kill Seifer. Squall nodded minutely as he corrected that thought, not noticing the sly smirk creeping onto Seifers' face.

Still, he didn't know what he was going to say to the others, did they even trust him anymore? Did they still want to be friend? _And_ there was his abandonment fears again, he thought he had put them behind him, grown out of them. Well, he didn't grow out of them exactly, the moment he had stepped near Balamb he had his memories sealed by Alexander, by Cid.

The glass covering some strange green screen on the control panel frosted over before disintergrating into small particles of fine ice, making Seifer jump and turn to stare incrediously at Squall who was staring at the broken screen with wide, sheepish eyes that flickered to Seifer and back again before turning back to gaze at the sky determindly, embarrassed.

Internally though, Squall was berating himself for losing control of his powers again just at the meer thought of Ci- Matron's husband. The minutes ticked by in an awkward silence, Seifer kept observing him, looking like he was ready to bolt at any moment. It grated on Squall's already frayed nerves, though the brunette looked as stoic as ever on the outside.

"Stop looking at me like that!" Squall snapped suddenly, his back going super straight, looking like it might snap in two as he tried to regain his icy exterier, which was failing terribly, he might add. Seifer blinked innocently, flicking the autopilot switch as he knew that while Squall was acting like a bristled cat, it was a good idea to have his attention on the other just in case he disintergrated something else.

At Squall furious gaze that was slowly turning murderous, Seifer thought it was a good idea if he answered. Though he instantly regretted it when his mouth ran away from him.

"Like what? Like you're the most gorgeous thing to walk the Earth?" The moment it left his lips, Seifer wanted to stab himself with Hyperion. He was usually very good auditing what he wanted to say and what came out, though today that awesome skill seemed to have gone flying with the kamikaze birds that flew past not ten minutes ago. But the bright pink blush covering Squall cheeks and the bridge of his nose was worth it, even more when Squall shifted and then turned his gaze to his feet and turned the seat so all Seifer could see was the back of his head.

Squall was not amused with himself, he was trying fruitlessly to rid his burning face of the blush but it was being more stubborn than he was, just like the singing in his veins and those annoying screeching school girl thoughts that kept repeating '_ He complimented me! He said I was gorgeous!'_ Squall mentally glared murder at those thoughts, if that was possible, and sighed quietly when those happy thoughts turned back to the horrific realisation that Quistis and the others knew of his secret.

Just what was he going to do about that? Seifer seemed on the same wave length.

"If you're worrying about the brady bunch knowing that you're a Sorcerer then don't. You've got nothing to worry about-"

"My knight is here?" Squall muttered to himself, not realising that while Seifer had been talking, he had sneaked up on the brunette. The same Lion jumped when the blond swung his chair round, a big cheshire grin on his face as he took a slight mocking bow.

"Exactly."

Seifer had never been punched so hard in the face before.

He groaned, rubbing his throbbing jaw as he heard Squall storm from the cockpit, the room feeling a few degrees cooler. Rolling his eyes, he went to follow but realised that he couldn't leave Ragnarok on autopilot with out a destination. Sighing deeply and annoyed that he couldn't go after Squall who obviously having trouble coping with the fact that others knew of his Sorcery, he sat back in the pilots seat and flipped the autopilot button, trying to think where they could go with out Quistis and the gang finding them so easily as well as finding a way to make the brunette see that there was nothing to worry about.

Squall was fuming, he could easily freeze Ragnarok's engines on the spot but he wasn't angry at Seifer, oh Hyne no, he was angry at himself. Angry at the annoying fuzzy feeling fluttering around his chest like a hummingbird on speed. He was angry at the child-like voice in the back of head that told him that Seifer would keep to his word and protect him, after all thats what a knight did.

Hitting the button to his quarters a little harder then needed he uncharacteristically flopped down on his bed, growling at how girly he was acting. It reminded him of the time he found Matron's sewing box underneath Seifer bed, how special he felt when he found that the scraps of material made a picture of Griever. He lay there for what seemed like days, listening to the soothing rumble of Ragnarok. He really did love this airship, though he frowned when the ship rocked just slightly and the engines died.

He was tempted to get up and find out what was going on, but he didn't need to because his door whooshed open and he heard the only other person on the ship click his tongue. Squall glared at the wall, deciding to ignore Seifer, though that went down the drain when hands grabbed him around the waist and hauled him to feet where he swayed a little from the shock. He turned to glare and probably murder the pain-in-the-ass Hyperion wielder

Mischievious jade eyes danced with mirth as Seifers hands remained where they were, obviously happy there. Squall glared harder, inwardly annoyed that Seifer was immune to it. Anyone else would have cowered in fear, promising to never mention whatever they had said again. But Seifer, the blond just brushed it off like it was nothing, like Squall wasn't trying to make him spontainiously combust.

"Do you mind?" Squall hissed, gesturing to the hands on his hips. Seifer's grin widened.

"No, actually," At Squall rising protest and promise of death, the hands tightened minutely, Seifer raised one hand, regretfully to shut the brunette up. "Now I hate repeating myself so I'm only saying this one more time, princess. Stop. Worrying!" While he said this he shook Squall slightly, noting that the other hadn't tried to dislodge his hands and there was a very pale pink hue on the gunbladers cheeks.

He continued with his speech. "It doesn't matter what the others think, and you should know by now that I don't give a crap about it. Now stop acting like it's the end of the world and remember-" Squall had been silent through out the little prep talk, knowing that Seifer was right, begrudgingly. Though he had to cut Seifer off, the sentimental tone the other was using was beginning to make Squall want to either cry in relief that blond was still with him or punch him. The latter sounded more appealing.

"Stop. Just stop." Squall winced as he spoke round the hand, knowing his voice came out a bit more pleading then he wanted but Seifer continued, ignoring how uncomfortable Squall was. He needed to make the other understand that he didn't care what Squall was or could do, the brunette was stuck with him.

"And remember that I ain't going anywhere." Seifer narrowed his eyes, staring relentlessly without blinking as blue-silver eyes widened with each passing second, the look of absolute horror as well as the child-Squall look of embarrassment shone brightly and Seifer couldn't help the chuckle, knowing the other-no matter how hard he tried- was really just the same stubborn kid he was all those years ago.

However Seifer hissed when sharp teeth bit into his hand in retaliation to his laughing. Squall glared death, the expression on his face possibly the one he gave Ultimecia before her demise, though he soon realised his mistake when Seifer grinned mischieviously, the almost insane look of revenge making jade hues darken just slightly. Squall gulped, his glower wavering just a little before he yanked himself backwards and dodged Seifers lunge for his waist. He ran from his room, hearing Seifers laughter and feeling like 9 years old again. He headed for the ramp which funnily enough was down and he was soon running on solid grassy earth, but it was all for naught.

He barely got five feet away from the ship before something hard and heavy rammed into his back, knocking the air from his lungs as he fell to the ground in an ungraceful flourish of tangled limbs. Squall gasped and tried to get up but Seifer was not allowing any movement what-so-ever. Just what on Earth had he been eating to make him this heavy?

Squall gasped out a laugh at the image of a fat Seifer, his icy countance crumbling under mirth of the image and the situation. He tried to turn over so at least he wasn't breathing in grass but frowned when Seifer refused to budge, or even shift so he wasn't totally crushing the man underneath him.

"Get off!"Squall sighed in relief when the blond allowed him to turn over, though he blushed brilliantly at the position the two of them was in; Seifer sat comfortably on his hips, the same dangerous gleam of revenge still there in his eyes. Seifer raised his hands, wiggling his fingers threatening as Squall started to struggle, now knowing that his unwilling capture was the first part of the blonds revenge for the bite.

Seifer smirked, running his fingers over Squalls ribs, applying enough pressure to make the other squirm, breathless laughter filling the area as Squall tried to escape the torture.

"That's what you get for biting me." Squall arched, his cheeks now thoroughly red at being reduced to a laughing fool, trying to get away from those fingers. He barely heard Seifers comment as he grabbed at Seifers hands to make him stop.

"S-stop...! Please!" The brunette begged, feeling his ears burn and Seifer finally had some pity on the brunette and stopped, though he left his hands curled round Squalls sides, not in a tickling fashion but more in a supportive way as the brunette gasped for air.

The blond couldn't deny that a flushed, panting Squall was probably the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. Well, seeing Squall in nothing but a towl was still at the top, but this was a close second.

It was silent for a few minutes, Seifer just staring and restraining himself from doing anything he'd regret. Squall slowly calming down and trying to ignore the fact that Seifer was still sitting on him and that he really didn't mind. However they both made the mistake of looking at each other, their eyes connected and something seemed to snap with an audible 'twang' that both of them heard but ignored and time seemed to stop. Squall felt his heart quicken and his mind went oddly blank as he watched Seifer lean down towards him, jade hues watching him closely as he closed the small gap between them.

Squall couldn't help the gasp as their lips met..

A/N:...

Bunny: uh yeah so ESB is kind of in shock at the moment that she has wrote her very first kiss XD so please Review and tell her what you think. It would much appreciated :)


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Do not own sadly.

Warnings: Quistis bashing-ish, Slight Zell bashing. Rinoa being good and sneaky. FLUFF! Major Fluff, those who are allergic may want to tread with caution. Seifer being Seifer. Maybe a little Ooc-ness.

A/N:... The last chapter *looks at it as if it's the holy grail* Wow, 20 chapters long. OMG I'm so proud of myself!XD I stuck with it folks, like I promised! Sure there mght of been times I took ages to update but I did my best and I did it! *pumps fist into the air* And of course it goes to my reviewers! THANK YOU SO DAMN MUCH! *hugs!* Anyway, don't want to keep you so...

ENJOY!

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Squall was not amused and he made sure everyone knew it. Innocent cadets hurried to get out of his way as he stormed through Balamb Garden towards the lift on a head hunt. He was going to murder Quistis, and this time not even Seifer could stop him. Well, Seifer couldn't do much anyway as the blond was currently lying in the Infirmary after Quistis had decided to Micro Missile the poor gunblader.

It seemed that the Strawberry blond had decided to go looking for him and had unfortunately stumbled upon them kissing- here Squalls cheeks flared red though he was able to hide it from onlookers by tilting his head down so his chocolate locks hid his face- Quistis had mistook the scene as Seifer attacking Squall and attacked Seifer with her Blue Magic, sending the surprised blond flying as he was hit repeadedly by missiles.

Squall could do nothing to help as he had simply laid there in shock, his eyes wide, his lips tingling and thinking that he wouldn't mind doing that again and rather soon. However is inner voice pointed out that if he didn't do something fast, the blond gunblader wouldn't be alive for much longer as Quistis geared up for another round of Micro Missiles.

So Squall helped. And boy did he help. He sent a powerful Blizzaga hurtling towards the whip user, the once lush green grass turning white from the strong chill of minus something-another sailing over it. Quistis had barely dodged the spell; the one sleeve on her jumper frosting over as Squall ignored her presence to make sure the blond wasn't bleeding too badly.

And that was why Quistis was a dead woman walking and Seifer was in the Infirmary.

Squall pressed the button for the top floor, pressing it a few more times when nothing happened. The lift seemed to get the message and groaned to life, slowly ascending upwards as if to mock the seething burnette. Squall refrained from tapping his foot impatiently in favour of trying to calm down. Seifer would not be amused if he went in guns blazing and the blond wasn't there to see it. Seifer would be stuck in the Infirmary for a few days, Dr. Kadowaki had somehow seemed relieved to see the blond, though she still tutted when she noticed the holes covering his trench coat and the bleeding wounds from the missiles.

The lift dinged happily as it reached the 3rd floor, the door swishing open and Squall came face to face with the rest of the gang. Rinoa was leaning again the wall, her arms folded over her chest and she was glaring at Quistis, who tried not to notice. Zell was quiet, looking between Quistis and Rinoa with wide eyes as if he was expecting a fight to start. Irvine was trying to get his hat back from Selphie and failing miserably while Selphie was simply being herself and giggling madly. Rinoa was the first to notice his arrival first and stopped glaring so she could send a sly smile and wink his way, to which Squall barely stopped the flush from rising to his cheeks. The others took notice after that, Irvine and Selphie became eerily quiet as he walked past while Quistis straightened her back, her head held high. Zell stood to the side, an unsure look on his face as he didn't know who's side to take. Squall unlocked the door to his office, pushing the door open and walked in to sit in his high backed office chair so he could look at everyone. Rinoa was in first, standing a little close to his desk. Irvine and Selphie soon followed, standing in the far left corner though it was obviously that Selphie very much wanted to glomp Squall as her arms twitched every now and then and she looked like she had ants in her pants as she hopped from foot to foot.

Quistis was the second to last to enter and she walked in with pride, standing directly in front of him, a Matron like stare in her eyes. Zell stood next to Rinoa, staring intently at the floor.

"Squall-" The brunette raised his hand to silence Quistis, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other hand to stop himself from doing something he'd regret and to think rationally. His leather gloves felt cool against his skin and he knew if he wasn't careful, he would end up freezing his entire office.

"Instructor, can you please explain why you attacked Seifer?" Quistis gaped for a moment, not used to Squall acknowledging her with her former title. She stood, floudered and lost for words while Squall waited patiently as did everyone else. Eventually she got her voice back.

"Why I..? Seifer was attacking you! We saw as we arrived at the Island Closest To Heaven that he tackled you to the ground! I was trying to protect you from him!" Squall remained quiet, not missing the tone of loathing in her voice and stared at his desk as if the answer to that statement was going to magically appear but it didn't. He sighed, not liking the situation.

"Seifer wasn't attacking me, he..." Squall coughed, his cheeks feeling a little bit warmer. "We were playing." Hyne he felt like such a little kid for saying that, still he better explain how they got into that position though he swore the kiss would be left out. "I bit his hand because he was refusing to let me interrupt his speech and he chased me. Nothing more, nothing less." Squall refrained from shifting uncomfortably under the four incredilous gazes directed at him. Rinoa was the only one who was unsurprised as she gathered that it was the only outlet their feelings had gotten. Well before she saw Squall and Seifer kissing. Of course she was the only one who had seen as everyone had been panicking when Seifer had tackled the fleeing brunette to the ground. She bit the inside of her lip to stop a giggle from escaping and give away the big secret.

The room was quiet for a few moments before Zell, who had been amazingly quiet and subdued, finally spoke up. "Squall, is it true that you're a Sorcerer?" Squall and Rinoa flinched immediately, the glare Rinoa had been pointing at Quistis instantly locked onto Zell who shrank back. Squall stared at his desk again as Quistis narrowed her gaze on him as did the sharpshooter and nunchaku user, they all wanted to know if it was true. Squall was about to refuse to answer when an unlikely voice spoke up.

"And so what if he is,_ chicken wuss_? What are you going to do about it?" Everyone looked at Seifer who leaned casually against the door post as if wasn't suppose to be in the Infirmary and was covered in bruises, staring back at everyone with a gaze that said; 'say-anything-about-it-and-I'll kill-you.' Unfortunately Zell wasn't the most brightest fighter in the group.

"B-but aren't the Sorcerers and Sorceress's our enemy?" There was a collective sound of skin meeting skin as Quistis, Squall and Rinoa all face-palmed and Irvine groaned at the stupidity of the blond boxer while Selphie bit her lip in concern. Seifer simply narrowed his eyes further.

"Isn't that just a little hypocritical considering Rinoa is a Sorceress and you don't mind hanging round her." Whatever retort Zell had been preparing died in his throat and his face burned a brilliant red that rivaled a Ruby Dragons scales. Seifer crossed his arms over his chest.

"You haven't answered my question, chicken wuss. So what if Squall's a Sorcerer? He's still the same, isn't he?" Zell gulped at the look in the blonds eyes and he stayed quiet, shrinking into the wall.

Deeming that Zell had been intimidated enough, Seifer locked gazes with Squalls, inwardly snickering at the pink hue covering fair cheeks. Squall coughed and waved his hand to dismiss everyone. Quistis seemed a little reluctant, more questions about Squalls powers bubbling to the surface but a hearty shove from Rinoa changed that. The Sorceress shut the door behind her, though not before giving Seifer a big sly grin and made pout as she kissed the air. She was lucky she chose to shut the door herself as she would have found it slammed in her face by a irritable blond.

Squall's office was ridiculously quiet, the brunette having turned away from Seifer to hide the brilliant blush staining his cheeks. Seifer was quiet because,well damn he was lost for words. How could he explain his feeling to Squall without having something precious chopped off? The annoying steel clock ticked noisily as the minutes passed and the awkwardness grew, and Seifer flinched when the room dropped several degrees, the only hint to what had happened was the fact that the clock no longer ticked and was instead decimated to tiny shards of ice covered metal stuck to the wall.

_He's getting the hang of that._ Seifer noticed with an amused grin, though it dropped when the situation refused to be ignored. He walked slowly towards the desk, trying not to wince when some bruised joint throbbed with the action. Kadowaki had healed his many broken bones but refused to waste a potion on bruises. He stood in front of the desk, wondering how he could spin that chair around without having to walk round the stupid wooden obstacle.

Seifer snorted to himself.

The answer was easy, he was Seifer Almasy and when something was in his way he simply moved it forcively to the side. Squall jumped as there was a loud crash behind him and he was spun round to meet green eyes that glinted with triumph. Squall stared off to the side, staring a little angry at his now trashed desk which was now nothing more than a pile of splitered wood pressed against the wall. Jackass. Squall glared at Seifer finding that being angry was a little more normal for him instead of freakishly shy and blushing.

"You ruined my desk." The tone was accusing and hot as Ifrit Hellfire, Seifer decided. He grinned as they almost instantly slipped back into their bickering.

"You shouldn't put things in my way." The glare increased tenfold, trying very hard to make him die a painful death, though Seifer could see the flush clearly on Squall's cheeks.

"You're buying me a new one." An order, Seifer's grin turned a little more evil as he thought back to the many times in his life that Squall ordered him around. It usually ended up with Squall either being tickled or in a headlock. Tickling Seifer had already done, but the headlock seemed a little immature. What else could he do? Seifer leaned in close when an idea formed in his head, noticing how Squall straightened his back but also shrank back into his chair, eyes warily flickering between Seifers own and, much to Seifers joy, the blond lips as he spoke.

"How about I give you a kiss instead?" Seifer had expected Squall to blush, kick him where it hurts, punch his face and storm out. He got the blush, but was totally surprised when Squall lips parted to whisper "Okay." However he wasn't that stunned to miss the opputunity. Their lips met in a chaste kiss, and Seifer pretty much thought Quistis had succeeded in killing him and he was in heaven, because Squall didn't let people touch him, much less kiss him- and oh wait Rinoa had mentioned the brunette having a secret? Could it be that...? Seifer pulled back, opening his eyes to see Squall glaring at him for a totally different reason, however before the brunette could pull the blond back for another kiss that he would deny doing later; Seifer was back to doing what he did best. Being a jackass.

It started with the lines of "You love me." falling from Seifer's mouth and then proceeded with the look of embarrassed horror on Squalls face, which caused Seifer to go into hysterics because besides glare and almost unhumanly cute, the look was out of place on Squall's face and funny. Seifer tried to sober up as he too had an confession to make and a kitty to molest, however Squall was already fleeing the room, only solidifying Seifers statement, not that it needed to be. Though Hyne was on the blond side as Squall had trouble opening his office door.

"Rinoa! Open my door!" Was that desperation in Squalls voice? No, Seifer shook his head becoming serious instantly, no that was fear and he hated when Squall was afraid for any reason. It twisted his heart until it bled and then twisted somemore to make sure, then thousands of needles pierced it to add a little more pain as if he wasn't suffering enough and then his stomach knotted up, becoming one big cramp that made him feel so sick he thought he would die. He hated the feeling and his mind and heart told him to apologise before he did actually die.

He walked up to Squall who was at that time freezing his door to try and open it which was in fact jamming it further stuck. Seifer sighed and pulled the brunette back to his chest, hugging the struggling teen close but not constrictive. He would never do anything to make the emotionally unstable gunblader feel trapped because he knew from experience the danger that caused.

They stood like that for a few minutes, watching as the walls on either side of the door froze into solid blocks of ice. Squall calmed down, a deep frown marring his features as he stared straight ahead, refusing to acknowledge Seifers existance in order to lose himself in his terrifying thoughts. Seifer scowled, turning the other around and placed his hands on Squall's face, forcing him to look at him. Seifer took a deep breath.

"Look, uh..."Seifer trailed off, his brain refusing to cooperate and make a coherent thought, though Squall seemed to understand and took a guess.

"You love me too." It wasn't a question and the next thing Squall knew was being smushed against a solid chest, his ribs being crushed while Seifer thanked Hyne himself that he and the brunette had spent _way_ too much time together and that they understood each other like they were twins. Squall smiled, and pushed the blond off him when breathing became necessary. Seifer was grinning from ear to ear, his hands gripping Squalls hips tightly so they couldn't be seperated as he planted another kiss on Squalls lips, and one his cheek, then his jaw to his neck, slowly going down so he cold nip playfully on Squalls collarbone, leaving a bright mark there as he soothed the bite with his tongue. However the brunette noticed a problem while the blond was distracted.

"Seifer, you do realise we're trapped?"

Seifer glanced at the half frozen room, realising they were indeed trapped.

"Crap."

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Squall stared at the blond mass curled up on his single bed taking over most of the space, shaking his head at the few new bandages covering the blonds upper torso. They were indeed stuck in Squalls office and it had took a bad idea from Selphie to get them out. The bouncy copperhead had decided that a powerful Flare should melt the ice, and it did. It also destroyed half of his office, blew the giant glass window out, however with Flare, the spell expelled outwards and then unfortunately sucked back in, bringing flying shards of flaming glass back into his off as well as splintered wood. Squall had found himself pinned to the floor by his trashed desk with Seifer protecting him from the glass.

Stupid knight.

The blond had ended up with cuts all over his back and chest, even Squall came away with a few scratches. So after the smoldering flames of Flare had died down, it was another trip to the infirmary where Kadowaki had sighed, throwing a couple rolls of bandages at them, telling them to see to each others wounds. Hence why Seifer was curled up on Squall's bed while said brunette stared from his place on a uncomfortable desk chair. He leaned against the table, one hand propping his head up. He barely noticed his eyes drooping and him falling asleep, used to sitting in such uncomfortable positions until warm arms wrapped him and he was lifted upwards and moved. He blinked his eyes open and saw nothing but white bandages, stupid Seifer for being so tall.

"Seifer, what are you doing?" He asked sleepily, his words slurred as he nearly fell back to sleep.

"Putting you in bed. It's freezing." Squall frowned, and gazed up at a strong jaw that was practically begging to be nibbled, but he didn't. He was trying to have a conversation here.

"Not 'nough room for both of us." This caused a chuckled and the blond admitted to himself that Squall was adorable when he was half-dead to the world.

"'Course there is, besides you're _tiny-_" By this point Seifer had managed to get them both on the single bed, Squall pressed close to his side as a frown appeared though he said nothing.

"-and slim. There's barely anything to you. We'll have to fatten you up or else I'm gonna be paranoid your anorexic-" Squall whimpered when the blond didn't shut up, he wanted to go to sleep, damnit. When blond kept going on about how small he was and wasn't going back to sleep he decided that he needed to change that. A threat had already formed in his mind. After all the Lion might sleep but the Commander of a battle fortress? Never.

"Seifer?" The blond hummed, shuting up for a moment and Squal reveled in the fact that he could feel the rumble through Seifer chest where his head was placed.

"If you don't go back to sleep, I'm kicking you out and you are never kissing me again." There was silence for a few minutes and Squall sighed, knowing he had won. He lay there feeling sleep creep over him as he shifted closer and mumbled.

"Love you, Seifer." Arms tightened around him as he fell into the soothing black abyss of sleep with four comforting words.

"I love you too, Squall."

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ESB: *sits in corner hugging Kobo plushie while crying* sniff... tis the end people, unless y'know you want one last chapter, an epilogue to clear anything up, but that will be up to you. And yes I realise that their confession *insert squeal here* was a bit weird but just think, they have known each other all their lives, Seifer being the only one to understand Squall when he's being anti-social and speaking one word, so I think they'd be able to understand each other like the back of their hands. Me and my friend do, she seems to know what I'm thinking even if she's not in the same room..Creepy Still though...sniff...the end! Q_Q

Plot bunny: *rolls eyes* Anyway, like she said, last chapter unless you want an epilogue. Please Review and tell us what you think.


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Me still don't own!

Warnings: Plotting Squall. Kobo! Kobo having a weapon! Quistis bashing. Fluff.

A/N: Hey folks *dodges tomatoes* I know, I know! It took me ages to write this but here it is, the epilogue! Whoo! I apologise for any spelling mistake, I try get them all but they're sneaky and masters at camouflaging themselves. And yes, I did make a new years resolution not to bash people but...IT'S SO DAMN HARD! :( Anyway, read and review.

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Enjoy!

Seifer watched Squall like a hawk, waiting for the other do something. It wasn't that he was paranoid or suspicious, it was just for the last hour all Squall had done was stare into space and lovingly stroke Kobo's head. Kobo had been dropped off, more like thrown at Seifer, by Fujin who looked ready to murder the creature a week ago, Kobo had instantly loved Squall and his hair. He was sure it was because it looked like chocolate, not that the blond would ever let Kobo eat chocolate, he didn't need the little critter being even more hyperactive. Still, Squall had glared at the Tonberry pup for about ten minutes for attacking his hair before relenting and giving the creature a fuss. Now the two was inseperable, where Squall went, Kobo went too. That meant Kobo now had his own little spot in Seifer and Squall's bed, much to the blonds dismay as he often had to go and sleep on the couch because Kobo was way too protective over the brunette, not allowing Seifer to have his snuggle, which also meant he couldn't feel up his favourite kitty too.

But he would survive, he could always molest Squall other times, like in the shower, in kitchen, or in Squall's office when Kobo wasn't there to threaten him with his little plastic knife. You might be wondering why Seifer would care if Kobo poked him with a plastic knife, well for one it freaking hurt when Kobo used Grudge against him, and really the Tonberry didn't even know its own strength! Seifer flexed his hand, looking down at the bandage on it, the blond had been play fighting with Squall and Kobo had took it as an full blown attack against his new favourite person, so with his little knife in hand and a battle cry, Kobo had jumped Seifer and stabbed his hand.

Kobo was _so_ lucky that Seifer was a sucker for Squall's puppy eyes, or the thing would be in the infirmary recovering.

Back to an eerily quiet Squall. The brunette was plotting something, Seifer could tell. He was waiting for the classic Bond moment when the villain turned in his chair, stroking a white cat and saying he had been expecting Mr. Bond, except it would be Squall and instead of a cat in would be a Tonberry and instead of expecting , it would be Quistis.

The woman had it coming, really. When Seifer or Kobo wasn't there to stop her insistant nagging, she would barge into Squall's new office and demand answers about Squall's powers. This was Squall's third new office and sixth new desk. Though Garden didn't dare complain about all the reconstruction happening, no body was brave enough to stand against Squall's glare of Death, or Seifer in general. People had the impression that if Squall's eyes didn't kill them, Seifer would, which wasn't too far from the truth but, damnit! Seifer was not Squall's guard dog!

Nevertheless, it wasn't like Squall to actually plan things, the brunette had the awesome power of thinking up a strategy in the span of a few seconds, with all possible outcomes accounted for as well. So if Squall was planning something, it really couldn't be good.

_Poor Quistis, she has no idea what's coming._ Seifer thought to himself, not really feeling pity for the woman. He watched as Squall's eyes gave away every thought without actually telling him anything for a few minutes before curiosity got the better of him.

"What'cha thinking about, Squall?" The brunette blinked several times, his hands stopping of its rythmic patting on Kobo's head, much to the Tonberry's disappointment. Squall looked over at the couch and frowned, telling Seifer that he had totally forgot that the other was in the room. Seifer was used to it. Squall glanced down at the forgotten file on his desk that lay open.

"Working.." Seifer rolled his eyes at the mumbled word and stood up, ignoring how Kobo's black button like eyes narrowed in warning.

"Uh huh, and that's why for the past hour you've sat and stared into space. You were 'working'." Seifer mimicked the quotations with his fingers, brushing off Squall's light blizzard spell at the teasing. Walking behind Squall's chair, the only thing that seemed to survive every encounter with Squall's magic, he gently began to massage the others shoulders. Kobo let out a little growl and took a step forward but happily stopped when Squall threw him a treat. Seifer clicked his tongue.

"He'll get fat...What are you planning?" Seifer was now reaching paranoid levels when all Squall did was smile secretively and relaxed into his chair, a slight moan leaving his lips at Seifer's ministrations. Squall refused to answer and instead left the classic that's-for-me-to-and-you-to-find-out floating around the room.

Seifer continued to fondle Squall while calling it a massage, thinking deeply and setting out a plan to discover what Squall was planning. Even if it killed him, he would find out what's going on. And he already knew two people to start questioning.

"Ow!" First things first though, show Kobo who is the boss in this little family and snap that puny little knife.

Quistis stormed down the hallway towards her dorm room, ignoring the slight snickers from the cadets gave from her apperance. She was going to strangle Selphie, and possibly Rinoa too. How dare they booby trap her classroom so she would be covered in bright luminescent yellow paint that didn't smell like paint. She was going to have to talk to Squall about this, though she was sure the Commander was getting kicks out of this too.

She pouted, all she wanted to know was if Squall was handling his powers all right, if he was in control enough to run Garden. She only had the cadets well being in her mind and that fact that whenever she brought up the issue Squall dissolved most of his office was only making her believe that he wasn't in control. A lot of diplomats were constantly ringing, asking if it was wise for a Sorcerer to rule Balamb Garden, to which she had over heard Rinoa plenty of times giving the diplomats a piece of her mind. Still, there was nothing she could do, Seifer had already threatened to demote her from SeeD if she didn't back off on her nagging.

Here she snorted, how could Seifer demote her? He wasn't even part of Garden, he was just a VIP that was in a romantic relationship with Commander. He wasn't special, and he certainly didn't hold any power over Garden staff. But she did back off a little, being demoted wouldn't hurt her physically, being attacked with Hyperion however would, and Seifer had that sword with him everywhere. Sighing deeply and fishing out her keycard, she failed to see the shadow lurking down the hall as she ran the card through the scanner and hearing her door unlock, she also failed to notice that something wasn't quite right in her room as the door slid shut and locked behind her ominiously. She only had chance scream in terror when she saw the danger waiting for her as the lights flickered to life before the attack happened...

Squall walked down corridor 3B, stopping just outside Quistis's door and waited, a cruel smile creeping onto his face as he glanced down at the chocolate wrapper in his hand. He had been planning this for a while, sick of being hounded and questioned about his ability. Seifer had accepted him for who he was and so had the rest of the gang, why was she being so difficult? She had no problem with Rinoa, why was he different? Plus he was sick of destroying his office everytime she questioned him, if Seifer was there, it wouldn't end up so bad but the woman always got him alone and he was tired of it.

So he plotted his revenge.

And it was a good revenge, Seifer thought he had only been planning this today? Squall snickered under his breath, oh no, he had been planning this for weeks, he had simply been running the plan through his head to make sure there was nothing he had missed. It started out with Selphie and Rinoa pulling pranks on the woman, which they had done so with glee. Both of them was sick to death of the womans haughty attitude. The last prank had been Squall's idea, naturally, but it wasn't paint Quistis had been splattered with, it had been a mixture of melted chocolate, a few tubs of Seifer's hair gel and some other things including yellow food colouring. And now his revenge was happening.

Hearing Quistis scream, Squall began to hum to himself as he strolled down the corridor towards his office, throwing the chocolate wrapper in the bin as he passed by, not noticing how cadets gave him a wide berth and how they stared at him with fear. It was not every day the calm, cold Commander of Balamb Garden walked down the corridor, humming and smiling like a cat who had caught the canary.

Squall opened the door to his office only to blink when he noticed a scared looking Rinoa and Selphie sitting in front of his desk and Seifer sitting in his chair, looking unamused. Instantly Squall's smile dropped as he walked into the room, looking unbothered by the fact that his two accomplices in the plan were ashen faced and looking down guiltily. Seifer would not guilt trip him. Seifer gave Squall a once over before looking at the shamed women.

"Leave." They nodded and rushed out the room, while they had told Seifer nothing of Squall's plan, they couldn't help but feel they had amazingly escaped death. Seifer stared at Squall in a way that he knew made the other uncomfortable and it worked as Squall began to fidget.

"Squall, what did you do?"

"Nothing." Came the quick reply, proving more than anything that Squall was guilty of something. Seifer smirked, sitting back in the chair and putting his feet on the desk much to Squall's displeasure.

"You sure? Are you positive there is nothing you want to confess, like, I don't know, plotting something against Quistis?" Seifer couldn't help the chuckle at Squall's expression, usually cold blue eyes widening to the size of dinner plates before the other began to curse Selphie and Rinoa's names. Seifer waved his hand dismissively, still laughing at how childish his lover was acting.

"You can't blame them, they didn't tell me a thing. I just guessed and it was kind of to be expected. So, what did you do to the banshee?" Seifer waited for a reply, but all he got was confused metallic blue eyes staring at him like he had lost his mind. Squall was confused as to why Seifer wasn't scolding him like a parent. Still, he answered after a few more minutes of staring at Seifer unsurely.

"Well, I set Kobo on her." There, he told the truth, not the whole truth but still the truth. Seifer groaned.

"C'mon babes, you gotta give me more detail, besides Quistis is the only person Kobo refuses to go near.. What did you do!" Squall smiled at how whiney Seifer sounded, he walked up the desk, sitting on the edge and began picking at the frayed edges of Seifer's slacks.

"Okay, I told Selph and Rin to trap her classroom so she would be covered in a concoction that would allure Kobo to her-"

"Like what?" Seifer interrupted eagerly, finding himself loving the devious side of Squall, he just hoped his little Lion didn't use it against him. Squall grinned proudly.

"It's mixture of white chocolate- it's not harmful to Tonberries- two tubs of your hair gel, a few tubes of bone marrow from a T-Rex, crushed dog treats and yellow food colouring. Basically everything Kobo loves to eat. She thinks it's paint." Squall snickered under his breath once again while Seifer laughed heartilly.

"So, what else. I know you Squall, you don't do things by half." Squall actually blushed at this, turning it into a innuendo when it had meant as a harmless jibe, Seifer smirked but waited patiently for Squall to continue.

"I did research on Tonberries, did you know they could eat a whole tub of white chocolate and not be affected by it? Give them milk chocolate and they turn to putty and sleep for the rest of the day, but give them dark chocolate and they become agressive. As Kobo is still just a pup, I knew he couldn't cause actual harm to Quistis so I gave him a bar of Deiling's best dark chocolate, the 75% stuff and placed him in Quistis' room. I would imagine Kobo is probably trying to eat her hair right about now." And Squall was right as they both were shocked to see Quistis running into the office, screaming at the top of her voice, her clothes still covered in the yellow mixture. Seifer instantly cracked up, lying back in Squall's chair booming with laughter as Quistis dropped to a roll, trying to get Kobo off.

The Tonberry was not to be swayed from it's meal and Squall winced when Kobo actually tore a few strands out, though he couldn't help the smile on his face when he saw what Kobo was wearing and neither could Seifer once he stopped laughing long enough to notice.

Kobo gripped onto Quistis's locks tightly, chomping away happily while showing the world the little black T-shirt it wore with the words 'Squall's Little Avenger' in bright red writing. Quistis tugged at the creature on her head and gave Squall a pleading look.

"Squall, please. Get it off me! Please I'll do anything! Anything!" She begged, tugging harder but yelping when Kobo tore out a few more strands because of it. Squall glanced at Seifer who grinned back and sighed, feigning annoyance.

"You promise to stop questioning my powers and my authority?"

"Yes, yes! Oh Hyne, please Squall, get it off!" Squall eventually took pity on the woman after ten minutes of watching her struggle to get Kobo off, he walked over to the woman and went to pick Kobo up but was shocked when Kobo went for his hand. Squall frowned and tried again, hissing when Kobo actually scratched his hand. Looking at the offending wounds, he turned to the one person who could stop the raging creature.

"Seifer...Help?" Seifer laughed again, feeling his cheeks begin to hurt from all the humour, but stood up and stomped over to the Tonberry who snarled, causing Quistis to whimper.

"All right, play times over!" And so Seifer charged for the creature while Squall stood proudly to the side, watching as his blond lover got hit with multiple Grudges as he tackled the Tonberry to the floor. Quistis had slithered out from the battle and was now whimpering at his feet, begging for forgiveness. Squall just merely looked down at her, silently reminding her that should she step out of line again, she knew what would happen. Just outside his office he could hear Selphie selling photo's of Quistis demise and heard a few security staff making bets on who would win the fight. Squall snorted, there was only one winner, and they were all picking the wrong one.

"Ah ha! Got'cha you little bugger."

It was a normal day in Balamb Garden, the students were in class, SeeD's were being sent on dangerous missions, Selphie was planning the next Garden festival with Irvine and Zell. Rinoa was teaching students about how useful animals could be in battle, Quistis was unfortunately lying in the infirmary recovering from the shock over a certain incident. Kobo was in the Training Centre with Rinoa as he was the perfect role model for such a class. Which just left Seifer and Squall.

"Ow, watch it will ya!"

"Stop being a baby."

"The little critter stabbed me!" Squall rolled his eyes and carried on cleaning the rest of Seifer's wounds, ignoring how the other hissed. He redressed the serious wounds in gauzes and gently patted Seifer's shoulder when he was finished, inwardly frowning at the bruises and remnants of Curse littering the others skin. Maybe Seifer should have let Kadowaki heal those instead of the woman just wrapping his wounds up and giving him a Holy Water to rid the affects of Curse. Seifer sat up and rolled his shoulders, observing how Squall readied himself to leave for his office. Seifer scowled.

"You're not going to work." Squall rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you're going to stay here with me."

"I am going to work."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Ye-mmph." Squall struggled to free himself from the sudden kiss, feeling a little light headed and his lips were tingling again. He went to talk again to make his point that his desk was crammed with paper work but Seifer thwarted him by sealing his lips of his own again, this kiss deeper and more passionate, turning Squall to mush. When they pulled away for air, Squall glared though it was weak as he shrugged off his coat and kicked his boots off. Giving in as he knew he would never win this fight. Seifer was just insatiable at times. He unwillingly loved it though.

"Cheat."He muttered unhappily. Seifer grinned, dragging the other to the bed where they could...'snuggle'.

"You love me for it." He said smugly leaning in for another kiss when they were comfitable.

Squall didn't deny it, or he didn't have chance to...

The End

* * *

A/N:...HA! Seifer's a cheat! But he's right, we love him for it and so does Squall...*notices the death glare from Squall* Anywho, this is the epilogue folks and Squall got his revenge. Aw man, I wish I had a Kobo plushie with his new little T-shirt. In fact I wish I had been there when Squall was making up the concoction. It was a little typical though, Kobo loves Seifers hair gel, loves dog treats and bone marrow is good for any growing creature. The chocolate was an added bonus, I mean I know most animals can't have chocolate but Kobo isn't a normal cat or dog is he? Nuh huh, he's Squall's little Avenger! And the thought of Kobo with a little plastic knife is just adorable, he's growing up! *squeals* Anyway, you know the drill folks, R&R and tell me what you think! Send you hugs!


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